The ‘Australia' page was tipped over the 2 million mark following Tourism Australia's New Year's Eve social media short film initiative Project:12. The short film featuring Facebook fans of Australia celebrating NYE in Sydney as well as user-generated video captured via iPhone saw the fan base increase by 85,000 fans in 3 days, with the film viewed by almost 400,000 people.
Tourism Australia's popular Facebook page has grown rapidly since it was first launched in May 2008, and in 2011 grew by 855,000 new fans. Facebook is key to Tourism Australia's social media strategy to promote Australia's tourism credentials at home and abroad, with fans around the world viewing and sharing photographs and holiday experiences.
Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy believes surpassing two million Facebook fans is clear evidence of Australia's enduring international appeal and of its successful social media strategy. They engage very closely with their followers, listening and acting upon their feedback to deliver simple and effective content which inspires many fans to share with their own Facebook networks. It's a massive multiplier effect and this is what social media and advocacy is all about. Through Facebook they get real stories about what people are currently thinking about Australia which influences their marketing and makes the platform a primary interaction point with their global advocates.
Australia's Facebook page is integrated with Tourism Australia's wider social media activity, which includes Twitter, a dedicated YouTube channel, Google+, Instagram and an increasingly large presence on major Asian based Weibo and Tudou social media platforms. (Tourism Australia - Essentials Newsletter: Edition January 2012, January 2012)
