From Andrew's Desk

The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) has now been selling the State to the world for 100 years.

Last month we celebrated the 100 years since the opening of the first South Australian Tourist Bureau on King William Street - staffed by one tourist agent and two employees.

Today, we continue the work those three first staff members began - albeit with a slightly larger team.

But the goal remains the same: convincing consumers that South Australia is where they should head for their next holiday.

And that goal has not got any easier. While it is certainly more convenient for tourists to hop on a plane from London and fly into Adelaide Airport than to undertake a sea voyage half way around the world to get here, consumers today need just as much persuading to come here - from both interstate and overseas - as they did in 1908.

What has changed in those 100 years since the SATC first set up shop are the tools we have at our disposal to spread the tourism message.

New technology has changed the marketing landscape, and it's vital that the SATC uses this technology to its full advantage to sell our State.

And marketing and advertising have become "sciences" that need the best expertise available to carry out so that we get the most bang from our buck.

That's why the SATC has just undergone a rigorous tender process during the past three months to appoint the best advertising agency available to help us reach our ambitious target of achieving $6.3 billion in tourist expenditure by 2014.

Following this process, are pleased to partner with local advertising agency kwp! for the next three years - it's great that the Adelaide-based agency won through on merit.

kwp! demonstrated a commitment to the overall goal of $6.3 billion, a true understanding of the consumer target audience as well as great creative and media planning ability.

This was an extremely hard-fought pitch and in the end we were very satisfied with the total solution presented by kwp!

Together with kwp! and the South Australian industry, the SATC will continue to aggressively market the State in the increasingly tough environment that macro pressures now facing the tourism industry mean for the future.

Here's to 100 more years of brilliant tourism in South Australia - and to reaching that goal of $6.3 billion in visitor expenditure by 2014.

Andrew McEvoy

Chief Executive