Here’s a tourism pitch you don’t expect. Tasmania is “Not really for Tourists”. The arresting idea by BMF, extends Tourism Tasmania’s Come Down for Air brand platform, using its signature wry humour and unexpected creative to invite Australians to consider how they travel and what makes a holiday truly meaningful to them.

The campaign holds a mirror to familiar tourist habits and mindsets that can get in the way of truly experiencing a place – from overplanning and chasing viral trends to blindly following online reviews, joining queues and focusing more on capturing content than connecting or being in the moment.

The hero commercial, The Line Up, follows a tourist in an unidentifiable city who joins a seemingly endless queue for a viral pastry, only to find the line stretching all the way across the ocean. So caught up in the pursuit, he loses sight of why he joined the queue in the first place. Finding himself in Tasmania, he realises the futility of it all, stepping out of line and leaving the crowd behind to discover something far more rewarding.

PR and social media activations continue the theme, with five De-Tourist Trails, a new series of quirky video shorts, Lee Lin Chin Investigates, with cult Australian journo, Lee Lin Chin, advocate and creator partnerships, and a competition giving four Australians the chance to win a Tasmanian holiday for two to ‘de-tourist’ themselves.

Eight years after stepping away from television news, Chin returns to her journalistic roots on her first-ever visit to Tasmania, becoming the first person to experience a De-Tourist Trail. Chin’s deadpan humour, fierce individuality and decidedly offline approach to life made her a natural fit for the campaign’s unconventional take on travel. Lee Lin Chin Investigates follows Chin as she explores the art of ‘de-touristing’ in Tasmania, venturing off the beaten track, meeting local characters and discovering how slowing down, following your curiosity and making time for genuine connection can lead to the most meaningful travel experiences.

A Not Really For Tourists campaign manifesto will appear as full-page advertisements across selected Nine and News Corp newspaper mastheads, supported by social placements. The manifesto holds a mirror to familiar tourist habits, inviting Australians to reflect on how they travel and consider Tasmania as an antidote to the pressures of modern tourism.

OOH will cover busy tourist and transport locations over the summer holiday period. A digital domination at Manly Wharf in Sydney will reach ferry passengers, while a takeover of Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station will capture travellers moving through the city. Tram portrait advertising in Sydney and large-format murals in Sydney and Melbourne will extend the campaign’s presence across high-impact locations.

The full paid campaign will span free-to-air television, BVOD and cinema in mainland Australia, complemented by digital, social, print and large-format out-of-home (OOH) advertising and media partnerships.

Tourism Tasmania chief marketing officer, Lindene Cleary, commented, “Come Down For Air has always been about experiencing the world a little differently. Seven years on, the pressures of life have become even more pervasive, and the need to slow down, think, feel and connect is more relevant than ever. With Not Really For Tourists, we’re evolving the platform to reinforce what sets Tasmania apart – both from conventional tourism culture and from everyday life – to give Australians a fresh reason to consider what a trip here can offer.

“Not Really For Tourists isn’t meant to be taken literally or as an exclusionary statement – we’re a tourism agency, after all, and that’s part of the tension we’re having fun with. We’ve been very deliberate in how we’ve brought the idea to life, using the wry humour and signature wink-and-nudge Australians have come to know through Come Down For Air, including our Off Season campaign. But at the same time, there’s a genuine message beneath the knowing humour. We want to invite Australians to reflect on what travel means to them, how they choose to experience the places they visit and what they contribute along the way.

“As a challenger brand, we know we need to be brave and distinctive to keep cutting through in a crowded travel market. So much of Not Really For Tourists – from the creative idea and its executions to the partners we’ve chosen to work with – has been designed to subvert the conventions of tourism marketing and position Tasmania as a place that offers something distinctly different from typical tourism culture.”

David Fraser, executive creative director, BMF, added, “It’s almost impossible to travel in 2026 and not find yourself in a crowd, queue, or ‘must-do’ activity at some point. Tasmania offers a breather from much of that. A freedom to travel on your own terms. This truth has always been part of Come Down For Air, and now felt like the perfect time to make it a little more unmissable.”

An integrated PR and social campaign will extend Not Really For Tourists beyond paid media, combining consumer research, content-led PR activations, and advocate and creator partnerships.

Supporting the launch, new nationally representative research conducted by Decibel Research found that three in four Australians (75%) would rather be called a ‘traveller’ than a ‘tourist’, while 86% believe tourist mindsets can detract from holiday enjoyment.

The campaign also invites Australians to ‘de-tourist’ themselves through a consumer competition launched today, offering four Tasmanian holidays for two, with each winner matched to one of the four regional De-Tourist Trails.

Credits:

Client: Tourism Tasmania
Creative Agency: BMF Australia
PR Agency: Havas Red
Digital Agency: Orchard
Media Agency: Starcom
The Line Up: Film Production Company: Finch
Stills and Video Production Company: Chee Productions
Lee Lin Chin Investigates: Stills and Video Production Company: Havas Red