Australia ad approved

Tourism chiefs will be hoping that a new ad campaign highlighting the attractions of Australia will encourage more travellers to visit the country after a controversial start to the campaign.

The advertisement was initially deemed to be offensive by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC), which argued that the tagline should be changed to remove the word "bloody" from it before it was shown in the UK.

The BACC decision was criticised by Australian tourism officials, who had previously gained approval for the ad, and led to debate over the campaign.

However, the BACC has reversed its decision and the promotional advert will be shown to a UK audience in a bid to boost travel to Australia.

"We have received great publicity from the launch and can now run the campaign in full," commented Tourism Australia's managing director, Scott Morrison.

The advert features an Australian girl wearing a bikini on a beach and has been described by its creators as "a uniquely Australian invitation".