UPDATE: AUSTRALIANS like to think of themselves as rugged, fun and easy going but for the rest of the world the picture of Down Under is far from completely positive.

Many foreigners regard Australians as variously unreliable, unhelpful and untrustworthy, a major tourism conference was told yesterday.

And holidays Down Under were poor quality and bad value by those interviewed in a major survey on brands across multiple nations.

The reality check came from Gruen Transfer ad guru Russel Howcroft, who unveiled fresh global data. It showed:

THE CHINESE think we're stylish and classy – but not very helpful.

AMERICANS see us as carefree and rugged, but we don't deliver quality or good value.

THE BRITISH regard us as charming and independent – but untrustworthy.

INDIANS believe our daring is offset by arrogance.

Mr Howcroft, head of the George Patterson Y&R ad agency, said the positive news was these perceptions could be changed.

And Tourism Australia was doing just that as part of its $180 million "There's nothing like Australia'' campaign.

He said the results were different when people who had actually visited Australia.

When Brits who had visited Down Under were singled out, they shared the overwhelmingly positive view of the country of Australians, who rate our homeland as tops as a different, relevant, reliable and friendly destination.

Mr Howcroft said 80 per cent of foreign markets saw Australia as "different'', 60 per cent had knowledge of it, half thought Australia was a relevant place to them – but only 30 per cent held it in high esteem.

"If you don't hold a brand in esteem, you're highly unlikely to pay a premium for it,'' said Mr Howcroft.

"Australia isn't cheap, so they need to have a perception of very high quality, high value for what it costs them when they get here, to appear reasonable.''

He endorsed Tourism Australia's use of foreign travellers who had experienced Australia to endorse the reality of high quality service and value.

Only about 9 per cent of foreigners nominated Australia as good value.

The Y&R Brand Asset Valuator comes from surveys of hundreds of brands globally, with data co-ordinated in New York, to present a picture to advertising agencies of what 700,000 consumers want in different nations.

Tourism Australia last month launched its campaign in China in a bid to further unlock the enormous potential of the growing Chinese middle class, with similar hopes for India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tourism Australia chief Andrew McEvoy said the findings didn't surprise him.

That's why the new campaign was based on emphasising the distinctiveness of Australia and use of social media to spread the good word about Australia from foreigners who had visited.

He said using Bollywood stars as ambassadors to promote Australia had been a key plank in boosting Indian tourism following the student protests in 2009 with the latest campaign aimed at China featuring Chinese music stars.

"There's different perceptions in different countries about Australia, so we're encouraging people who have been to Australia to tell our story via Facebook and it is working,'' he said.