BY JAMES WILKINSON

Former world number one tennis player Pat Rafter has signed on as an Ambassador for Mantra Hotels, Resorts and Apartments for the next three years.

Pat Rafter is now an Ambassador for Mantra Hotels

Rafter’s first engagement in his new role has been fronting a new, AUD$5 million marketing campaign, which begins on July 10.

Mantra’s Director of Marketing Ken Minnikin said Rafter was the ideal choice as both an Ambassador and face of the new campaign, given his likeability and reputation as a family man.

“Pat Rafter was the logical face for our campaign because he is a highly successful businessman and sportsperson – who travels extensively for work and sport – but he also has particularly strong family values,” said Minnikin.

“It’s not just that he is an incredible sports person and a former Australian of the Year. It’s more than that. It is Pat’s well earned reputation for honesty combined with his down to earth nature which made him such a perfect match with Mantra.”

Rafter, a former world number one tennis player and the 2002 Australian of the Year, is currently the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team.

He said there were a number of reasons he signed-on with Mantra, particularly the focus on customer service.

“One of the main things that attracted me to Mantra was their genuine concern for the comfort of their guests as well as the apartment style accommodation located in all of the best bits of Australia,” he said.

“I travel all over the country for tennis and for business and you can bet that wherever I want to go that you will find a Mantra there.

“However, my most important travel each year is our family holiday. I try to take a few a year and whether it is a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, a long weekend at the beach or even a road-trip along the Great Ocean Road, the whole family is catered for. We use our accommodation as a comfortable base and from there we just get out and explore,” he said.

Minnkin said the new Mantra campaign was based on research as well as feedback from guests.

“The leisure campaign focuses on the ‘Great Australian Family Holiday’ and the desire for the family to come together in spacious accommodation that they use as a base to get out and explore their holiday destination.

“In a corporate context, the ads show that business travel is not as glamorous and as glitzy as non-corporate travelers expect,” he said.

Mantra’s commercials starring Rafter were shot on location at Mantra on Salt Beach near the Gold Coast and at Mantra 2 Bond Street in Sydney.