Tourism Tasmania has launched its sixth iteration of its ‘Off Season’ campaign, inviting Australians to ‘become a winter person’.
Created in partnership with BMF Australia, the campaign leans into Tasmania’s bold winter identity, celebrating those who embrace the cold rather than endure it.
Featuring visually striking black-and-white portraits of ‘winter people’, overlaid with contrasting neon-green copy, the creative is designed to stand out from competitors – leveraging the perceived negatives of winter weather to position Tasmania’s Off Season as energising, off-beat, and restorative with experiences found nowhere else in Australia, or in Tasmania at other times of the year.
The campaign aims to convert inspiration into bookings through more than 500 Off Season offers and events, developed in collaboration with tourism operators across the island – many created specifically for, or only accessible during, Tasmania’s cooler months.
These experiences range from cosy, luxe and cheeky clothing-optional stays to deep wilderness expeditions, floating sauna, contrast therapy and meditation experiences, alongside indulgent culinary offerings including long-table feasts, black truffle degustations, ocean-to-plate seafood, and whisky, wine and mulled cider tastings.
Off Season experiences will also come alive under Tasmania’s long winter nights and dramatic landscapes – from dark-sky cruises and bioluminescence tours to nocturnal wildlife encounters, stargazing and immersive storytelling, as well as mountain biking, snow, foraging, fungi and fossicking adventures, farm goat and wine dog escapades, scavenger hunts and hands-on workshops spanning photography, sculpting, carving, knitting, stone painting and seasonal scent-blending.
A bumper calendar of distinctive festivals and events, including Dark Mofo, Beaker Street Festival, Tasmanian Whisky Week and the Nude Solstice Swim, further showcases the diversity, depth, breadth and otherworldly atmosphere of a Tasmanian winter.
The 2026 campaign launches off the back of record visitor spend and visitation during Tasmania’s May to August period last year, reflecting growing demand for the island’s winter experiences.
Alongside BMF, the integrated campaign will roll out nationally through paid, earned, digital and trade partner channels, in collaboration with agency partners Starcom, Orchard and Havas Red. The paid campaign will run across free-to-air television, video-on-demand, digital, social media, out-of-home advertising and media partnerships in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
High-impact outdoor placements will include an immersive audio-visual takeover of Sydney’s Martin Place Metro tunnel, alongside placements across tram stops and train stations throughout Melbourne’s CBD.
Tourism Tasmania CMO Lindene Cleary said the 2026 campaign builds on the brand platform the Off Season has established over the past five years.
“From the beginning, the Off Season has been about reframing how Australians think about winter – not as something to escape or endure, but something to lean into… preferably with a good coat, a glass of something local, and an unassuming, adventurous spirit,” Cleary said.
“Over time, the campaign has helped cement Tasmania’s Off Season as a distinctly Tasmanian cultural moment – equal parts invigorating, indulgent, quirky and a whole lot of the unconventional and unexpected. While we don’t have the same marketing budgets as some other destinations, we’ve focused on being creative, consistent and distinctive in how we tell Tasmania’s winter story – and that’s where we’ve been able to cut through.”
Cleary added the 2026 campaign builds on the strongest elements of previous years while introducing new creative.
“This year we’re bringing back some of our highest-performing creative alongside new executions – continuing to celebrate the curious, the devilish, the steamy, the nude, the odd and the proudly converted winter people – supported by a broad suite of content that showcases our operators, sparks inspiration and ultimately encourages bookings during the Off Season.
“Through a fully integrated campaign, the 2026 Off Season invites travellers from all walks of life to see winter in Tasmania not just as a season, but as something to actively opt into – a defining and must-do part of the Tasmanian holiday experience.”
Tourism Tasmania CEO Sarah Kingston-Clark said Tasmania’s Off Season continues to resonate with travellers seeking distinctive, experience-led holidays.
“This year’s Off Season campaign invites Australians to ‘become a winter person’ – to lean into the chill and become awakened, restored and transformed by Tasmania’s winter.
“Experiences are at the heart of the Off Season, and this campaign is a true collaboration with Tasmania’s tourism industry. Operators across the island have created a diverse range of offers and events designed specifically for the cooler months – unlocking moments that are quintessentially Tasmanian and can only be experienced at this time of year.
“There are so many creative and distinctive ways to become a winter person in Tasmania – whether through vibrant and provocative festivals, cosy and quirky escapes and immersive after-dark experiences, or time spent in nature paired with warming whisky and wine, fire-lit feasts, outdoor saunas, hands-on workshops and guided wilderness journeys.
“We look forward to welcoming more Australians to become winter people this year – and to welcoming back the many returning winter converts who have already fallen in love with the Off Season in previous years.”
“Among other things, this year’s Off Season campaign introduces nudism, truffles, that face jazz drummers make, glow worm caves and fossicking for sapphires. If those don’t sound like a good time to you, you’re probably a little dull or serious and I hope things turn around for you,” added Rees Steel, creative director, BMF.
“Tasmania only gets more Tasmanian in winter and capturing that wild ‘off-ness’ for the Off Season is always a blast.”
Tourism Tasmania’s 2026 Off Season campaign will run from 30 March to 31 August 2026.
Credits:
Client: Tourism Tasmania
Creative Agency: BMF Australia
Film production Director: Kyra Bartley
Production Company: FINCH
Stills and Motion production 2024 and 2025
Photographer: Jo Duck
DoP: Jack Birtles
Production Company: ARTBOXBLACK
Stills Production 2026
Photographer: Jesse Hunniford
Production Company: Pork Store Productions
Digital Agency: Orchard
Media Agency: Starcom
PR Agency: Havas Red
