Written by on Sep 10, 2015. Posted in On Location

Chinese TV show could help boost film tourism in Western Australia

A popular reality TV show watched by some 75 million people in China could help boost film tourism when it shoots in Western Australia (WA). The show Where Are We Going, Dad? features Chinese celebrity fathers taking their sons on adventures in exciting parts of the world.

Tourism WA spent a year negotiating a deal to have the production team film the next instalment of the show in Western Australia, according to a report in Perth Now.

“It’s costing substantially less than it would cost us to run an advertising campaign in China, let’s just put it that way,” said Stephanie Buckland, chief executive of Tourism WA, in comments to the outlet.

“We’ve got the access with the airlines, we’ve got a lot of our businesses in WA ready to receive Chinese visitors and we have had a massive increase – about a doubling – of Chinese visitors over the last couple of years.

“But really, what we have got to do is get WA and what we have to offer in front of more prospective Chinese visitors.”

Added John Day, acting tourism minister: “By investing in this popular TV show, with its massive audience, we expect to raise awareness of WA as a holiday destination, and in particular, highlight its natural beauty and airline accessibility to the Chinese market.”

Last year, Qantas initiated a deal that brought US comedy series Modern Family to Australia for a special episode that helped boost the country’s profile among US audiences. Ten million Americans watched the episode and Qantas reported a subsequent bump in the number of visitors to its website.