Back in June, I reported on the failure of Australia’s $21 million tourism ad campaign based on the slogan “Where the bloody hell are you?”, a phrase that both sucked in its original English and in its Japanese translation. I guess a considerable amount of money has been spent since then, since the cost of the ad campaign no stands at $180 million. This year’s summer tourism season is over, so Aussie newspapers are renewing their attack on the slogan(As the above comic strip demonstrates).

In July and August, the peak tourism season for Japan, there was a 2.2 per cent increase in travel to Australia, barely denting successive declines. Overseas travel by Japanese rose 5 per cent to 2.5 million people between July and August, meaning that Australia lost market share.

“Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” was in strife in Japan from the moment of its launch in March because it did not translate into Japanese. The slogan was conveyed as “So? Why Don’t You Come?”

“The translation is not very well done and I think the way they used the expression does not fit the Japanese mindset,” said Masato Takamatsu, vice-president of marketing for the Japan Tourism Marketing Co, a travel consulting firm that is now advising Tourism Australia.

Asked whether Australia should abandon the campaign, Mr Takamatsu said: “Yes, I think so.”

The result comes as Japan has re-emerged as a powerhouse in international tourism because of a record season for salary bonuses and strong economic recovery.

Australia’s situation is about to get worse, with Japan Airlines to quit flights between Sydney, Brisbane and Osaka, Japan’s second biggest city. The airline said it was losing $30 million a year on the daily service.

I myself considered travel to Australia during the August holiday. However, prices were much too high, so I visited China instead. Now that JAL is cutting flights to Australia, we can only expect airfares to increase. Will Australia be able to recover from the effects of rising travel costs and a shitty ad campaign?