**Check against delivery
Chairman of Tourism Australia - Rick Allert, Tourism Australia Board Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me pleasure to be here today to witness the public unveiling of the new Tourism Australia global marketing campaign.
The performance of Tourism Australia's marketing activity speaks for itself.
Last year despite the global economy contracting for the first time since the second world war, Australia's tourism industry performed better than most.
Despite international declines in other markets by up to 6 percent we sustained our level of international visitors at 5.6 million increased visitor nights by 6 percent and expenditure by five percent.
This is an outstanding result which reflects the Australian Government's decision to ensure Tourism Australia maintained its presence in our international markets throughout the Global Financial Crisis.
But there's always plenty of room for improvement.
The resurgence of the resources sector will be very positive for business travel however it will put pressure on tourism as the competition for labour increases.
So the challenge is to balance both the demand and supply side issues.
Today's announcement is about stimulating private sector demand and encouraging the tourism industry to aggressively compete for the discretionary dollar.
As I have always said, Tourism Ministers will come and go. It is the industry's long-term investment in this campaign which will determine its success.
The Australian Government and Tourism Australia have worked hard to ensure this campaign and the soon to be released business brands are complementary.
They are part of a single approach to market Australia as a great place to visit, live, work and do business.
In this way we're supporting the work of some of our biggest marketers - many of whom I deal with through my portfolio - BHP, Rio Tinto, Qantas and Virgin and the Fosters Group.
While there will always be a need to stimulate demand, the Australian Government through the National Long Term Tourism Strategy has made a commitment to advancing some of the industry's long-term supply side issues - including workforce mobility, under investment in hotel stock, the need for a national accreditation program and increased indigenous tourism development.
Next month I will be meeting with my fellow Tourism Ministers to discuss the Strategy's progress.
But today is about the Australian Government's commitment to stimulating tourism demand over the coming years, so let me hand over to the Chairman of Tourism Australia to introduce you to their new campaign.