If you’ve suddenly felt the need to add Lord Howe Island to your Aussie holiday or event bucket list, you might have Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake to thank.

The much-loved Aussie couple have just returned from the island, located off the New South Wales coast, where they had the enviable task of spruiking the destination on social media, as part of their partnership with Tourism Australia.

Now back on the mainland, Hamish and Zoe have their sights set on Australia’s capital cities, in the latest iteration of the Holiday Here This Year campaign.

The City Escapes campaign is focussed on driving visitors back to major cities, where visitation and occupancy rates have fallen considerably over the past 12 months due to COVID-19.

“We have such a unique collection of clean, safe, beautiful cities with lots in common with each other but a vibrancy that’s unique to each city. We’re extremely lucky,” the Tourism Australia ambassadors said.

The new campaign is part of major media push to drive domestic visitation while international borders remain closed, and includes the domestic business events campaign, Event Here This Year.

Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said the latest part of the campaign aims to remind Australians why our cities are loved by travellers all over the world.

“Our cities are the key international gateways to Australia and transit hubs for travellers, so it’s no surprise that they’ve been hit the hardest in terms of tourism spend, hotel occupancy and aviation capacity over the past year,” she said.

“While our international borders remain closed and travel restrictions continue to fluctuate around the country, our cities run the risk of continuing to bear the brunt of this pandemic despite offering so many incredible, safe experiences and being more affordable than ever.

“As part of this campaign we are calling on Australians to help support their fellow Australians by booking a city escape, which in turn will help to support the thousands of city-based hotels, restaurants, bars, cultural attractions and experiences that rely on tourism for their livelihoods.”

Watch the latest video campaign: