Andrew McEvoy has the right credentials to sell Australia, writes Julie Miller.
With three children under the age of 10, Andrew McEvoy should be well-versed in the parental art of encouragement and promoting self-esteem. But dealing with a gangly, awkward, self-conscious teenager is a different challenge – one he's tackling head-on in his new role at the helm of Tourism Australia.
"To use an analogy, Australians are a bit like an adolescent," McEvoy says. "We're such a young country and we passionately care what the world thinks about us. We're still at that stage where we're worried about our pimples, so we want to make sure we're not demonstrating them."
The blemishes this 44-year-old former journalist is referring to were revealed in all their glory in what has come to define Australia's national tourist body – its recent marketing campaigns.
Key concepts: tourism, Australia, advertising, jobs, campaigns, marketing, Tourism Australia