Introducing Esme Rowling, 8, the new face of Australian tourism, who just wants her British grandparents to come visit

AUSTRALIAN tourism authorities are hoping family ties bind when it comes to enticing more British tourists Down Under.

Tourism Australia has teamed up with British Airways in a new tourism push aimed at reuniting the one million British expats currently living in Australia with family members and close friends in the UK.

A social media campaign and a short film features the real-life story of Esme Rowling, an eight-year-old girl living in Bondi, and her English grandparents.

“It’s different to England ... the sun’s always shining,” Esme says.

“I go swimming almost every day.”

Entreating her grandparents to come and visit Australia, she says: “I wish they were here with me.”

Esme Rowling, 8, invites her grandparents to come visit from the UK. “Australia has everything. Except you.” Source:Supplied

As part of the “Visit Soon” campaign, Australians will be able to download a postcard invitation that they can email to friends and family in the UK.

The postcard includes a 10 per cent discount off some British Airways fares, along with a range of Australian holiday ideas and itineraries.

Visiting friends and relatives is already the primary reason Brits travel to Australia, representing 43 per cent of all visitors aged 15 and above.

Tourism Australia UK regional general manager Denise von Wald said this made it the natural focus of the new campaign.

“With an estimated 40,000 Brits immigrating to Australia every year, and so many ‘Poms’ now calling Australia home, the Visiting Friends and Family market is huge and one we are very keen to tap into,” she said.

The Aussie sun and surf is highlighted in the campaign by British Airways and Tourism Australia. Source: Supplied

“We know from research that a personal invitation and, with it, the promise of an emotional reunion and prospect of a more ‘local’ holiday experience, is a critical trigger when it comes to getting relatives and friends living overseas to lock in a visit Down Under.”

Using the strapline “Australia has everything … except you”, the campaign is one of a number of recent Tourism Australia initiatives aimed at tapping into the lucrative UK market, which experienced a boom last year following an influx of visitors for both The Ashes and the British Lions tour in June and July.

The country’s peak tourism body will also next week launch a campaign to convince time-poor UK visitors to consider Australia as a two-week holiday destination.

Esme loves exploring, so the video features a range of Australian landscapes. Source: Supplied

Sample itineraries include:

1. Five days in Sydney, two days in the Blue Mountains and six days enjoying the coastal lifestyle on the Great Barrier Reef.

2. Four days in Melbourne, a four-day road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide exploring the Great Ocean Road, and five days enjoying the wineries and wildlife of South Australia.

3. Three days in Perth, four days exploring the beaches and wineries in the Margaret River, and a six-day Outback tour taking in the Kimberley and Darwin.

4. Three days in Sydney, five days on the beach at Byron Bay and five days in the Red Centre exploring Uluru and Alice Springs.

5. Three days in Melbourne, four days in a beach house on the Mornington Peninsula and six days exploring Tasmania’s wildlife.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the number of UK arrivals jumped 6.8 per cent in 2013 to 634,100, while the latest International Visitor Survey shows the UK is Australia’s most valuable international leisure market in terms of total spend — contributing 15 per cent, or $2.4 billion, of the total spend for all inbound leisure visitors to Australia.