Qantas-No one travels like Australians

QANTAS - NO ONE TRAVELS LIKE AUSTRALIANS

Australians love to travel, with the equivalent of a third of the population heading abroad every year. Meanwhile, more than half the Australian population now owns a passport. That’s more than, for example, the USA, where the figure is around 40% (the 10% stat commonly quoted is 20+ years out of date).

According to Sydney-based tourism lecturer, Dr David Beirman Englishspeaking countries and close neighbours like Bali remain highly popular destinations for Australians travelling internationally, with the US being the no 3 most popular destination in 2016 and the UK no 4.

However, Dr Beirman believes holiday destinations like South America, Africa, China, Russia and Iran will grow in popularity among Aussies: “By world standards we are among the greatest of world travellers.”

This “love of travel” forms the basis of a new campaign by Qantas, where the tagline is “no one travels like Australians - and no one takes us to the world like Qantas.”

Australian singer Lisa Mitchell recorded the soundtrack to the campaign, with the song being a version of “I’ve been everywhere”, which was originally written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959.

As well as an online video ad, the campaign is running across broadcast, digital, outdoor and social media. It shows Australian travellers enjoying the experiences on offer in countries that Qantas operates to, including surfing in Waikiki, hiking in Yosemite, strolling through the historic streets of Kyoto and going on safari in South Africa.

Experiences in Australia are also featured such as watching the sunset at Uluru.

As well as running a campaign linking the Australian love for travel with its role as the national airline, Qantas is continuing a PR push to highlight the “game changing” characteristics of its long-haul fleet, in particular the 787-9 Dreamliner.

Though Qantas launched non-stop Australia to UK flights in March 2018, some travellers may of course be reluctant to spend 16-17 hours in economy.

This is especially when you have articles such as one published by Britain’s biggest tabloid newspaper, The Sun, which opened its review with: “We reveal the hell of flying non-stop for 17 hours from Australia in economy on the UK’s longest route. Entering the ‘familiar kingdom of screaming kids and aching bottoms’ on the UK’s longest flight.”

Being a tabloid, The Sun will have almost certainly added a bit of extra embellishment to this review, and actual airline and travel publications have been much more complimentary about the experience, but it’s papers like the Sun that more people read.

As a result, a series of social media posts and blog articles talks up the ultra-long haul Dreamliner experience, including ‘new levels of comfort in economy.’

From a PR point of view, the stories that Qantas is considering installing beds in cargo, whether true or not, will also help position the airline as an innovator when it comes to making super long-haul flights more comfortable and practical.

KEY TAKE-AWAY

As one Australian publication puts it “no matter how far-flung or obscure, you can guarantee that you’ll run into another Australian traveller.” And the statistics prove it, Australians love travelling overseas.

As a result, this campaign gets Qantas to own the whole idea of Australians discovering and experiencing international destinations, which at the same time allows the airline to showcase its own extensive route network.

Meanwhile, doing a PR-push about how Qantas is transforming the passenger experience on 16 or 17 hour flights is smart. With the direct Perth to London flights, Qantas wins on convenience. Now the challenge is to persuade passengers that it wins on comfort too.