21 October 2008

Your tourism dollar at work...

| johnboy
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Malaysia’s Sun Daily has a glowing article on the glory that is Canberra.

    As Australia’s capital, it is packed with places to see and ‘do’ – every other building is a ‘national this’ or a ‘national that’, leaving it with more attractions per capita than any other modern city. And with a large diplomatic corps, the place just has to cater for gourmets and lounge lizards.

If only we could tell where it appeared in the paper or how many people read it.

In any event the disclosure tells the tale:

    “The writer’s visit was courtesy of ACT Tourism and Tourism Australia”

Money well spent for once I reckon.

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an asian family being taken for a ride? in australia?? 😉

I’ve seen ads for Canberra in Singapore as well. One was on the side of a road and a picture of an Asian family taking a balloon ride.

New Yeah said :

First, the author compares Canberra to an other-worldly utopia.

Oh, it’s other-worldly alright ….

*chuckle*

There are two things I like about this article.

First, the author compares Canberra to an other-worldly utopia. How can that not be flattering?

And second, he talks up the sophistication of the good burghers of Canberra and then manages to plug DFO as a key attraction. I doubt that luxury and sub-luxury goods are any cheaper at DFO than in Malaysia or any other newly industrialised SE Asian country, but hey, if it gets people in the door…

Nice work Bob.

Ari said :

peterh said :

The red gravel of the central strip was originally made from crushed Canberra house bricks. The material was chosen in part for the similarity to the ‘crunch’ made by military boots during a parade.

That appears like pretty obvious dissembling to camouflage their use of the easiest material they could find.

at least the canberra brickworks were doing something then…

Beersheba … glory thrust upon us by logistical circumstances.

Impressive nonetheless.

peterh said :

The red gravel of the central strip was originally made from crushed Canberra house bricks. The material was chosen in part for the similarity to the ‘crunch’ made by military boots during a parade.

That appears like pretty obvious dissembling to camouflage their use of the easiest material they could find.

Ari said :

… the envy of our allies as they watched our mighty forces dispel the enemy?

Oh yeah, I love it. Especially the light horse at Beersheba! It makes me go all goose bumpy every time I think of it. I like to think there’s some of that spirit dwelling in all our little Aussie kids.

The Parade is visually powerful, with a red gravel central strip and dark eucalypt ‘walls’. The red gravel of the central strip was originally made from crushed Canberra house bricks. The material was chosen in part for the similarity to the ‘crunch’ made by military boots during a parade. The ‘walls’ are created by the Victorian Blue Gum, Eucalyptus bicostata, and the planter boxes, which contrast in colour to the crushed red brick paving, have the native New Zealand plant Hebe ‘Autumn Glory’ growing in them (symbolising the Anzac connection).

from the NCA website…

… the envy of our allies as they watched our mighty forces dispel the enemy?

What about green, Ari?

If the gravel was black we’d say it symbolised the hearts of our enemies … gray would be the colour of the troopships … brown would be the tanned faces of our glorious troops … yellow would be, err, the peril we faced?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy4:46 pm 21 Oct 08

This is a good result if it gets more visitors to Canberra.

My suspicion is it was just the colour of the only gravel available in that volume and they made up the other bit later.

Mrshmellowman3:51 pm 21 Oct 08

Thanks Johnboy
I will have to look at it differently next time I go past

I’ve heard it a few times.

The symbolism all over these places can make your head spin if you try and take it in all at once.

Mrshmellowman3:48 pm 21 Oct 08

The article claims “Australian War Memorial whose red earth in front is to remind lawmakers of the blood Australia has spilled in many wars – and to think carefully before risking any more.”
Does anyone know if that is true?
I have lived in Canberra for a number of years and have never heard that before

tylersmayhem3:43 pm 21 Oct 08

Particularly considering the following statement in the article:

“Think Sungei Buloh and washing down salmon fillet and veal medallions with a local Pinot Noir…”

Hmmm! Yes, tourism dollar hard at work indeed!

buddingjourno3:20 pm 21 Oct 08

Agreed. When you read the travel lift out in the Sun Herald or the Sunday Telegraph, all the articles always say ‘courtesy of Egypt Department of Tourism’ or ‘courtesy of the Las Vegas Tourist Office.’ I always wondered if our own tourism office did the same…

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