The Northern Territory tourist board Tourism NT is urging the trade to capitalise on an expected hike in interest in travel to Australia generated by new Netflix show Territory.
To coincide with the programme going live on Netflix last month, the tourist board launched a digital and social media campaign ‘ Territory – for Real’ in the UK and is promoting itineraries offered by tour operators to destinations featured in the show.
The campaign, which is running for the foreseeable future, focuses on luxury ranches and outdoor adventure to align with the show’s theme. The tourist board is also promoting training and sales tips to agents on ranch products or show locations.
The six-part drama follows a family’s fight for power in the Australian outback and explores what happens when the world’s largest cattle station is left without an apparent heir.
Between November 4 and 10, Territory received 2.4m views while Google Trends is predicting a 70% increase in traffic to the UK Northern Territory, according to Tourism NT. In its first week, the show made it into the top three shows on Netflix in the UK.
Tourism NT chief marketing officer Tony Quarmby said he had high hopes that the show, which features destinations including Unesco World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park and Berry Springs (pictured), will substantially boost tourism to the Australian state.
The Northern Territory benefitted from Crocodile Dundee’s success in the 1980s and more recently from Australian children’s TV series Barrumbi Kids and the 2019 film Top End Wedding, which resulted in a 17% increase in visits to the region year on year.
“Expectations are high we could achieve something similar from Territory if the series and associated marketing activities are well received by UK audiences,” said Quarmby.
He described productions like Territory as “one of the best ways to showcase Australia’s Northern Territory as a holiday destination to an extensive global audience”.
He said: “We couldn’t afford to sit back and wait for organic travel interest to be generated from the series so in anticipation that Territory would be top of the charts and streamed to potentially 277 million Netflix subscribers globally, the latest campaign ‘Territory – for Real’, was launched to immediately convert that interest into intention to travel to the locations featured.
“Obviously the portrayal of characters and locations have been fictionalised but the reach Netflix has across the world still enables audiences to see and learn about some of the most spectacular locations across Northern Australia.
“The drama, excitement and connection generated through the storyline creates awareness and inspiration to travel to the epic locations, while a mix of real experiences are then made available through our integrated destination marketing campaign for audiences to undertake in real life.”
The tourist board has provided examples of products agents can sell Northern Territory to clients interested in enjoying their own Northern Territory experience on the back of the show.
These include Finniss River Lodge, located in a 50,000 acre working cattle station; a Katherine Outback Experience to learn about life on an outback farm; Bullo River Station, including cruises along the Bullo and Victoria rivers; and Bamurru Plans, which offers the chance to explore the area with airboat trips on the wetlands, overland safari drives and guided wilderness walks.
Pic credit: Tourism NT / Helen Orr