It may be either a stroke of marketing genius or one of the worst slogans ever devised - only time and how much cash lands in Canberra will tell.

A big international publicity campaign to attract tourists to Australia will feature Canberra's Floriade flower festival as a big global draw - what the branding and marketing experts involved call a "hero image".

The slogan for the three year, $38 million advertising blitz will be, "Come Live Our Philausophy".

Tourism minister, Simon Birmingham, said, "The ACT has seen a huge spike in international travellers over the last year and we want this to continue into the future.

"That's why the colours and creativity of the Floriade festival will be front and centre in these new global campaigns, as we look to attract more tourists and tourism dollars into the Territory."

Figures from his department indicate that 266,000 tourists visited the ACT in 2018, spending $605 million.

When the "philausophy" concept is unveiled by the government, Floriade will feature along with Uluru, the sand dunes of Port Stephens, the Grampians in Victoria, Bruny Island in Tasmania, Lucky Bay in Western Australia, the Great Barrier Reef and Kangaroo Island.

The publicity campaign to be mounted by Tourism Australia aims to boost those numbers. It will feature adverts on TV, radio, print and online as well as roadside billboards.

It will be global but with a focus on 15 particular markets where the tourism experts reckon there are high-spending people keen to come to Australia and where Canberra might be a magnet.

According to the organisers, the target markets are the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore and India.

The marketing, and the "philausophy" concept, was designed by M&C Saatchi, the global advertising agency with headquarters in London.

What's the philosophy behind the marketers' "philosauphy"?

"The campaign will highlight nine philausophies that Tourism Australia believes encapsulate the Australian way of life: the way Aussies are, how we approach life and what differentiates us from the rest of the world," said a government official helping prepare the launch.

The nine "philausophies" include a conventional marketing view of Australia: "mateship', "balanced lifestyle', "sense of adventure", story telling", "no worries attitude", "boundless optimism", the "Australlian flavour", "generosity of spirit" and "love of nature".

The aim of the advertising campaign is to " give travellers around the world a taste of what makes Australia such an enjoyable destination to visit.

"It will showcase our unique and incredible destinations, but then go a step further and encourage travellers to book a flight to Australia and immerse themselves in the Australian way of life."

A lot of market research has been done. It indicates that:

Australia has a good record with promoting itself as a tourist destination.

From 1984 to 1990, a series of adverts featuring Paul Hogan "putting another shrimp on the barbie" became iconic (even though Australian prawns had to become shrimps for American viewers and spenders).

Will the philausophy behind the new series catch on?