The campaign, which will run in the United States and Canada, is backed by an exclusive deal with National Geographic and features major promotions in National Geographic's Traveller and Adventure magazines.
A special tourism-linked television series will also run on the National Geographic Channel and nationalgeographic.com will feature a section dedicated to Australian travel.
The campaign is part of an A$10 million (US$6.7 million) advertising blitz by the ATC in America.
It dovetails with the ATC's 'Have you ever' campaign, which is run in partnership with Qantas airways and features more generic advertisements on major American cable networks, print advertisements in key newspapers and online promotions.
ATC managing director Ken Boundy said the aim was to build the American adventure traveller base in Australia. "Our research indicates that most North American travellers who visit Australia consider themselves to be adventure travellers and are driven by unique and differentiating experiences," Boundy said.
"The link with National Geographic gives the ATC the perfect means for targeting this type of traveller. National Geographic is widely respected for delivering stories of travel and adventure from around the globe via the pages of its magazines and programmes on TV.
"With the new campaign, we are encouraging those same readers and viewers to come and experience an adventure of their own by taking a holiday in Australia."
Figures from the ATC show that Australia remains the number one aspirational destination for travellers out of the US and Canada. The National Geographic campaign hones in on some of the more daring experiences that can be found across Australia - such as climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge or riding a camel through the Australian outback.
See p14.