Tourism Australia has launched its latest campaign, which is focused on highlighting the country’s world-class aquatic and coastal experiences, in a bid to lure more international visitors to Australia.

The new creative, the latest instalment in Tourism Australia’s global ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ campaign, was officially unveiled at an event in New York on Australia Day eve attended by Australia’s minister for foreign affairs Julie Bishop.

Guests at the event were treated to immersive ‘virtual reality’ displays and aquatic-themed images being projected onto the ice rink at the famous Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park alongside the reveal of a new broadcast ad, featuring a voiceover by Australian actor and new Tourism Australia global ambassador Chris Hemsworth.

The event was hosted by Australian chef Curtis Stone and guests enjoyed a specially designed Australian menu by Luke Mangan.

Tourism Australia managing director, John O’Sullivan, said the new campaign would focus upon one of Australia’s key competitive advantages.

“Already 70 per cent of our international visitors enjoy an aquatic or coastal experience as part of their trip to Australia, so this is a campaign we know will resonate strongly across all our key markets.

“While Australia is known for its natural beauty, the world still doesn’t have a full appreciation of the breadth, depth and quality of our aquatic and coastal experiences.

“They’ve always been an important part of our destination story but they’ve never before taken centre stage,” he said.

The campaign will sit alongside and complement existing Tourism Australia marketing activities, including its current promotion of food and wine and Indigenous experiences, providing an additional proof point to demonstrate why There’s Nothing like Australia.

Tourism Australia will spend A$40 million over the next six months rolling out the new campaign - starting in the US with a joint campaign with Virgin Australia and then across other key international markets, including the UK, China , Japan , South Korea , Singapore , Indonesia , India , Malaysia and New Zealand.