Travel Tuesday: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Australia, both exotic and accessible, is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. Among the many wild and wonderful things to do and see is the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system in the world. Located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is visited by approximately two million tourists each year, who spend their time there snorkeling and scuba diving. In order to protect this natural wonder from the impact of declining water quality, pollution from motorboats and use by tourists, Australia enacted the Reef 2050 Plan in 2015, outlining a number of mitigation efforts to preserve the reef and its surrounding ecosystem.

Advertising for tourism in Australia in the early 20th century produced many colorful and dynamic posters, including this one featuring the Great Barrier Reef. Titled The Marine Wonders of the Great Barrier Coral Reef, this poster was designed in 1933 by Percy Trompf, an Australian commercial artist well-known for his Art Deco style and use of broad, flat colors. Trompf’s posters are collectible today, as they iconically represent the era from which they came.

You can find this image, along with 12 others, in our 2022 Vintage Travel Calendar as a removeable and frame-ready 9×12 print.

Here are a few more examples of vintage Australian travel posters.

Title: Travel by Trans-Australian Railway across Australia
Artist: James Northfield, c. 1930

Title: Australia, Great Barrier Coral Reef
Artist: James Northfield, c. 1930-1939

Title: Australia, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
Artist: Gert Sellheim, 1930-1939