Indigenous experiences goes global

By Hannah Edensor

This morning Tourism Australia kickstarted its campaign to bring unique Indigenous experiences to the world’s TVs, computers and silver screens.

Launching a new short film aimed at encouraging more domestic and international visitors, TA hopes to add Indigenous tourism experiences to the itineraries of a holiday down under.

Entitled Aboriginal Australia: Our Country is waiting for you, the film was created in collaboration with renowned Aussie filmmakers Brendan Fletcher and Warwick Thornton and tells the story of Australia’s distinct Indigenous tourism offerings.

Developed in partnership with Austrade, the film features a diverse range of Indigenous activities, adventures and immersive cultural experiences that are on the cards in the Red Centre and outback, rainforests and tropics as well as in cities and urban environments.

One of the misconceptions that the film aims to dispel is that Indigenous tourism experiences can only be found in hot, dry and remote areas.

Directors Fletcher and Thornton are best known for their work on Mad Bastards, and Samson and Delilah and The Sapphires, respectively.

The pair worked closely with nine Indigenous tourism operators from four States and Territories across Australia to bring the stories to life.

Tourism Australia’s managing director John O’Sullivan said the film aimed to increase awareness, interest and participation in Indigenous experiences across Australia.

“Currently, 14% of our international visitors participate in an Aboriginal cultural experience during their trip, helping to inject $6.4 billion annually into our visitor economy,” he said.

“We’re confident this new short film, and our plans to make sure it is widely distributed both in Australia and overseas, will help promote this important facet of Australian tourism and grow these figures.”

The film will be shown in Australia and a number of TA’s key international markets, including China, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the UK and the USA, where it is expected to be seen on TV, online and in cinemas by more than 50 million people over the next few weeks.

The film has already received strong backing from the tourism industry, including airports (Sydney Airport), international airlines (Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia) and hotel groups (AccorHotels Australia and IHG) who have all agreed to provide a platform to show the film to their passengers, guests and employees.

Check out the short film here:

Advertise with us

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

@australia aboriginal Aboriginal Australia asia china germany indigenous australia indigenous tourism indonesia john osullivan outback red centre tourism australia uk usa