It features character actor Shane Jacobson a in Hawaiian shirt, and is clearly tongue-in-cheek, given destinations in Australia situated on or near the Tropic of Capricorn are considerably further north.
These include Coral Bay in Western Australia, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Queensland’s Longreach, Emerald and Rockhampton.
For scale, Rockhampton is around 1,700km drive north of Mildura.
And, of course, there’s that well known region around Cairns, now known as Tropical North Queensland, with its tourism authority called Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
The campaign is – we think jokingly – targeting those who normally travel to north Queensland, with the launch press release flagging Mildura’s “friendlier local wildlife”.
“We’ve always known we have something special in the Mildura region in terms of the unique experience we have to offer visitors, and as Tropical North Victoria we’re aiming to make sure the rest of the country knows as well,” said Mildura’s mayor Liam Wood.
“This is also our chance to enter into some friendly rivalry with our Queensland counterparts, who we have a great working relationship with. It is now time to steal some of their thunder in the tourism market….. game on!”
Mildura is a well-located regional city for its central access from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and it wins its share of association, government and business events because of this geography.
But the last time your correspondent visited the city beside the Murray, it was touting its Mediterranean climate and its lack of humidity. However, it does boast a beach – a popular sandy shore on a bank of the Murray near the city. Please hand me the sunscreen.
