Australia's Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo launched the Tourism Australia campaign in which more than 50 of the famous taxis will be wrapped in sunny images of Queensland.

The Evening Standard newspaper in London will also be wrapped with Australian images promoting the "swap the cold for the gold" campaign.

The new campaign was launched to coincide with the Queen's Baton Relay starting it 388-day journey at Buckingham Palace here today. 

"Major events play a major role in deciding where to holiday, with 30 per cent of visitors from the UK indicating that major sporting events impact on their choice of destination," said Ciobo. 

Britain's  Australia's third largest inbound market for visitor arrivals and for visitor spending.