Australia’s open—come on down. Members of Advance, Australian professionals living abroad, are spreading the word across the globe.

ASK ANDREW WALL WHERE HE’S FROM, AND HE WILL LAUNCH INTO A POETIC DESCRIPTION OF BRISBANE, Australia, where he grew up, and will follow the story through to the time when he lived on the peninsula of Port Phillip Bay outside Melbourne. “What you can see and do around that bay is amazing,” he says. “The winery, surf beaches, spectacular views, horse riding; there are so many outdoor activities, it is limitless.” About the country as a whole, Wall adds, “Australia is a place of escape and serenity. It has a wild and free aspect.”

Wall is extremely passionate about his home country, and he thinks that every American should hop over for a visit. In fact, when most Americans learn where he’s from, they tend to say that Australia is near the top of their list for a vacation spot. That’s when the 45-year-old whips out a business card that reads Australia.com, so they can learn more and hopefully book a flight right away. (“Have dinner [on the plane], watch a movie or two, and the next minute it is breakfast and you are almost there,” he notes.)

Wall, who has worked in marketing and strategy for an energy company in Los Angeles for the past nine years, is one of 5,000 ambassador-members of Advance, a New York–based global community of Australian professionals dedicated to connecting the one million Australians who live outside their country of origin.

Advance, founded in 2002, provides online and live services and events in major industry sectors for its members, but also prides itself on enabling Australians abroad to serve as informed ambassadors-at-large. Their role is to promote their country to individuals they meet on the street, coworkers planning vacations, or sales managers seeking ideas for incentive trips.
“The goal was twofold,” says Advance CEO Elena Douglas about the formation of the group. “Some early Advance programs were mentoring events to get senior executives to speak about their experience building a career away from home, [and that grew to include] a partnership with the Australian state government and Tourism Australia to run formal programs that invite Australians to promote Australia inside of their corporations, in order to make sure people have accurate information about Australia.”

Andrew Wall is dedicated to his role as an Advance ambassador. Just outside his office door, he created and decorated a reception area boasting several Australian artifacts, such as a crystal statue from his homeland that a friend brought back to him; and travel literature
on the country, including brochures highlighting 50 reasons to vacation “Down Under,” as well as the Australia.com business cards.

“When I got these materials after joining Advance, I was just thrilled to have anything that will encourage people to go to Australia or drive them to a Web site that will answer questions for them,” says Wall. “Having a display there drives their interest. I get a lot of foot traffic where I work—I’m not too far from the entrance—and people can’t help but notice it.”

When Wall’s manager was planning to accompany her husband to a Rotary conference in Australia, she casually mentioned it to Wall, who had plenty of ideas for what she might see and do outside of the confines of her hotel. “I ended up writing an itinerary for her with a whole range of things to do [that would allow her to] interact with the native animals and waterways, have a subtropical experience on a mountain range, a desert experience, and parks and shopping for a sampling of the culture. She hired a car and did everything I suggested on the list. She had a wonderful time. I have had three people now go down there as a result of [my] encouragement.”

Wall is married to an American he met when she was teaching in Australian schools, and he says his wife is just as active in promoting his country. “She weaves in Australian culture and history for her American schoolchildren.” Although Wall began persuading Americans to travel to Australia before he joined Advance, he says he is now much better equipped to answer their questions or direct them to a place that can.

Advance provides educational materials to any of its members who indicate on their application forms that they are interested in becoming ambassadors. All members have online access to presentation tools, including PowerPoint slides, downloadable brochures, images, videos and even case studies of the success some corporations have had hosting events in Australia.

“Our plan is to release these ambassadors out with all the right information to persuade companies that Australia is a great location,” says Douglas, who joined the nonprofit organization in March 2003, when there were 500 members. Today, there are more than 6,000 in nine chapters, seven of which are in North America, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto. Earlier this year, the San Francisco Advance chapter held a barbecue and wine-tasting on the roof of the W Hotel. Members were asked to bring along a friend or coworker, especially someone in a decision-making capacity about work-related group travel. About 80 members and their guests attended to hear presentations by Tourism Australia and travel incentive providers.

“The event was all about bringing all the right parties together in the same room and having a taste of Australia at the same time,” says Katherine O’Regan, who joined Advance this summer as its West Coast director. With prawns sizzling on the barbie, the attendees mingled at tables named after famous Australians, such as the Crocodile Dundee table or Nicole Kidman table. The idea was to flavor the room with Australian food and wine—and the ambassadors helped add to that feel.

“I think I spent most of the evening drawing maps of Australia, showing where Sydney or Darling [Point] or Melbourne are and talking about places to go there,” says O’Regan, who works out of Los Angeles and feels “there is definitely a role our people are playing in getting tourists to Australia.”

“The partnership with Advance has tremendous value in getting more Americans to go on vacation to Australia,” agrees Michelle Gysberts, the Tourism Australia Partnership Development director. “There is nothing more credible than an Australian talking to an American about their country.”

The partnership’s other value is that many Advance members hold senior executive positions in Fortune 500 companies, which is of particular interest to the tourism team, says Gysberts. “Advance members embracing the Ambassador program give us a talented pool of salespeople for Australia.”

Advance threw a two-day event in New York for its members, who traveled there from around the country. At the gathering, there was a special strategy session on tourism to equip members and explain how useful they can be in the promotion of the country. “It is important that others know that we [Australians] are not fleeing from anything, we are just excited about the world,” says Douglas. “Australians tend to go to college in their hometown. We don’t go away for college like in America. After we finish college, we tend to have a one- or five-year adventure out in the world.” About 10 percent of the country’s population is abroad at any one time, she says. There are 150,000 Australians currently in the U.S., explains Douglas. About 5,000 of them have taken on the responsibility of being an official Advance ambassador, but many of them promote the country unofficially as well.

Since long before joining Advance, Wall has celebrated Australia Day in his office every January 26. “I put up a flag and bring in Australian food. I hand out traditional ANZAC cookies [which were originally sent by families to the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps troops overseas], and I hand out copies of the history of Australia that discuss why we celebrate [the holiday].”

Australians truly love their homeland, and it shows in these ambassadors, who are not compensated for their role. “The Advance members’ enthusiasm has been overwhelming,” says Gysberts. “They are extremely patriotic and proud of their country.”

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sheree curry is a freelance writer based in Minnesota. Email Sheree at editor@executivetravelmag.com.