From Bridgerton to Bond, Harry Potter to Tommy Shelby. Aussies will soon find out how they can follow in the star-studded footsteps of their screen and TV heroes.
In an exclusive interview with Traveltalk, Maria Sykes, VisitBritain’s Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, revealed the name of a new global marketing campaign around “screen tourism” that will be launching Down Under later this year.
“We know from our research and data that people are hugely motivated to go and see places for real that they have seen on the small or large screen and put themselves into the action.
“So, we are really excited to announce that later this year VisitBritain will be launching a major global marketing campaign in Australia with the theme “Starring GREAT Britain”.
“I’ve seen some previews and I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done. I think you’re really going to love it because it’s really entertaining.”
Ms Sykes highlighted tours that Aussie visitors can do in the UK that not only include locations used in popular movies and shows but also allow guests to recreate their favourite moments.
“You can go and fly a broomstick and pretend you’re Harry Potter at Alnwick Castle; you can do a fabulous Bridgerton tour of those gorgeous buttery yellow Regency houses in Bath; there’s a Peaky Blinders tour of Birmingham. So, we’re really excited about this campaign.”
The campaign comes at a time when visitation to the UK from Australia has never been higher.
Aussies spent a massive £668 million (approx. $1.3bn) on trips to the UK between July and September 2023, surpassing Germany as Britain’s second most valuable source market for that quarter. It is the first time Australia has ever been the second most valuable market across any quarter.
“The first three quarters of 2023 alone smashed the entire value of 2022. We’re currently sitting at about £1.3 billion in value and we’ve never done that before.
“For a nation of 26 million people to become the second most valuable market behind the U.S. is extraordinary. I think we can safely say we’ve recovered from the COVID years.”
