Italian Olympic Swimmers Making A Splash For Australian Tourism

Italian Olympic Swimmers

Five Italian national swimmers are the latest international identities to get involved in telling the world why there's nothing like Australia for a holiday.

The five members of the Italian swim team including Captain Filippo Magnini and Fabio Scozzoli, who have both qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games, along with Federico Bocchia, Stefano Ancarani, and Marco Fanti Rovetta, are on a nine-day visit to immerse themselves in some of the Australia's best travel experiences.

Joining the Italian swimmers for their travels to Melbourne, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Port Stephens and Sydney, is Italy's national broadcaster RAI and leading publishing house Condé Nast (Vanity Fair and Traveller) to share the swim stars' experiences in Australia with Italian audiences.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the visit follows the launch of the  Unforgettable Swim promotion by Tourism Australia in partnership with Speedo in September  last year, featuring the famous Italian Olympic swimmer Filippo Magnini. The total value of the promotion to date is AUD$5 million.

"Advocacy is a big part of bringing to life our current campaign - There's nothing like Australia - and it tremendous to have Filippo Magnini and fellow Italian swimmers spreading the word about Australian holidays as they prepare for the 2012 London Olympic Games," Mr McEvoy said.

"Word-of-mouth advocacy is extremely powerful in motivating people to travel and we are delighted to have some of the biggest names in Italian swimming to endorse Australian holidays in Italy.

Italian Captain Filippo Magnini

"Last year we ran the two month Unforgettable Swim promotion with Speedo inviting Italians to win one of six trips for two people to Australia together with Filippo Magnini and other Olympic swimmers via Speedo swimsuits tags, an online electronic game and mobile applications.

"Now we are once again putting the spotlight on Australia as the travel stories of the swimmers and winners of the promotion are shared via the Italian media who are documenting the trip - with the aim to inspire many more Italians to visit our country," Mr McEvoy said

Mr McEvoy added that whilst the swimmers will keep to their training schedule, they will get to see more than the pool with a taste of city life in Melbourne and Sydney, enjoying the wonders of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, getting to know our koalas and kangaroos, as well as an unforgettable swim with the dolphins in Port Stephens.

Italian Fabio Scozzoli,

Tourism Australia is leading the Italian media visit in partnership with Tourism Queensland, Destination New South Wales and Tourism Victoria.

Australia continues to be a popular destination for Italian travellers, with 55,100 Italians visiting the country in 2011, contributing $201 million to the local economy. The Italian travel market is part of the strategic mix to help Australian tourism achieve its goal to grow overnight visitor expenditure to $140 billion by 2020.