The Vanuatu Tourism Office are on the cusp of a soft-launch for its new million dollar brand campaign to be rolled out initially in its biggest markets of Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia respectively.

The new AUD$1.5 million campaign will feature the reworked tagline, "Discover what matters", plus new imagery and is expected to appear in print, digital and TV ads across Australia initially, before subsequent markets.

Initial market research in Australia for the campaign concluded yesterday, and showed a favourable response with 70 to 90 per cent saying they would go to Vanuatu, compared to a 50 per cent response for those shown previous campaigns saying they would not choose to travel to the islands.

The entire campaign will be launched officially within the next 6 months, according to VTO General Manager, Annie Niatu, with special focus given to the New Zealand market, which she said "shows a lot of potential, and we will be spending a bit more there".

Marketed as a mid-range destination, Ms Niatu said Vanuatu offered a lot of choices and delivered quality, compared to competing destinations.

With over 40 per cent of the country's GDP derived from tourism, Australian arrivals to Vanuatu have steadily grown year on year, with a substantial increase in 2009 due to political unrest in neighboring islands and Asia, driving visitors to Vanuatu's shores

2008 was recorded as a level year attracting 23,900 visitors for the first 6 months from Australia, while 33,700 traveled to Vanuatu in the same period in 2009.