Mr Morse said the ATC promoted Australian restaurants and wine through media visits, television and press advertising and its work with the global travel trade. "In 1998/99, for example, we ran  approximately 150 food and wine media tours to Australia. The publicity generated by these tours is valued at around $310 million," he said. "Most importantly many of those food and wine writers we bring to Australia are among the most influential in their countries. The overwhelmingly positive publicity they generate for Australian food and wine draws the attention of other critics and reporters. "The demand for our food and wine media tours is at an all time high." Mr Morse said the ATC also featured Australian food and wine heavily in its television and print advertising campaigns. "For example, three of our five television advertisements running in North America focus almost solely on food and wine. And ads for Europe, New Zealand, Japan and Asia also feature our culinary attractions. "In the past 18 months we've also run print promotions in such well-known titles as Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Gourmet and Bon Appetit."

Mr Morse said tourism statistics showed experiencing Australian food and visiting wine regions were two of the top five factors influencing international visitors' decision to come to Australia.