On Wednesday night, a band of filmmakers, tourism boards and brands gathered over wine, cheese and champagne to celebrate the inaugural Cairns Crocodiles Film & Screen Track.
Hosted by Irresistible Magazine and The Misfits Media Company, the event brought together some of the industry’s leading minds to explore the growing intersection between tourism and film.
From HBO’s White Lotus driving travel to Hawaii and Thailand, to Outlander-themed tourism in Scotland, the destination marketing potential of the film industry is impossible to ignore.
Attendees included travel industry heavyweights from Tourism New Zealand, Promperu, LA Tourism, Tourism Ireland, Tourism Australia, French Tourist Bureau, Philippine Tourism, Viking, Cook Islands, Taiwan Tourism and Samoa Tourism, alongside film, streaming and production representatives from HBO, Netflix, Foxtel, The Post Lounge, Entropico Production, La Verite Films, the Persian Film Festival and French Film Festival.
A number of advertising and media experts from TikTok, SBS, NITV, Elysée Collective, Sky News, Today the Brave, TravMedia, Travel Weekly and B&T also joined the group.
The Wine & Cheese event was hosted in independent creative agency Today the Brave’s Surry Hills office, where conversations centred around how entertainment is influencing the way travellers discover and connect with destinations.
Film and tourism collide
In a post on LinkedIn, Promperú in Australia & New Zealand said it was great see the growing recognition of the powerful connection between film and tourism.
“Promperu in Australia & New Zealand was proud to be represented at this event by its Trade, Tourism and Investment Commissioner in Australia, Sol Campos De Parry, reinforcing Peru’s commitment to leveraging screen tourism as a strategic platform to showcase the country’s extraordinary landscapes, rich culture and world-renowned gastronomy to Australian audiences.”
If there is anything that has become apparent across the past few decades of global cinema and television, it’s that when storytelling and place align, the results can travel far beyond the screen.
“The world of film, TV and content is evolving just like everything else, and the fascinating group of people who gathered last night are at the vanguard of where the conversation, and the market, is going next,” editorial director of Irresistible Magazine and lead curator of Cairns Crocodiles Film & Screen Track, Catherine de Clare said.
“These thought leadership ideas will carry on into the Film & Screen Track at Cairns Crocodiles 2027 where the worlds of screen, marketing and tourism will continue to collide.”
