Australia to star in new TV drama aimed at capturing Brazilian's growing desire for Australian holidays

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14 Sep 2015, 08:12 am

Sydney, Sept 13 (NITN): Tourism Australia has teamed up with Brazil's leading TV network Globo to produce Australian episodes of its new TV drama- Totalmente Demais-helping to further boost Brazilian's growing desire for holidaying in Australia.

The visit, which is being conducted in partnership with Destination New South Wales and Tourism and Events Queensland, will see four episodes of the Brazilian telenovela (TV drama) filmed against a backdrop of some of the most iconic attractions of Sydney and The Whitsundays.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said Brazil was a fast growing emerging tourism market for Australia and the show will help to further boost the attractiveness of Australia as a travel destination.

"Australia is a destination that is now being discovered by Brazilians - we have seen Brazilian visitor arrivals and spend quadruple in the past 10 years and what’s more the market is also one of the top three luxury markets for Australia behind the USA and China,” O’Sullivan said.

“Globo TV is a market leader in Brazil and famous for its telenovela productions. At any single moment of the day, close to 22 million Brazilians are tuning in one of these shows. Their reach and impact is huge."

“We expect that having spectacular images of Australia broadcast on screens across Brazil to millions of viewers will help to further boost the attractiveness of Australia, which Brazilians already consider as one of the ‘hottest’ destinations in the world to visit right now."

“What’s more the broadcast visit will bring to the fore key elements of our latest global marketing push to highlight Australia’s world class food and wine together with our renewed focus on the country’s aquatic and coastal experiences,” O’Sullivan said.

NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres, said, “Sydney is Australia’s most popular destination for visitors from Brazil and showcasing the harbour city’s iconic landscape and attractions to millions of TV viewers will provide Brazilians with even more incentive to visit NSW. Brazil is the State’s largest South American visitor market and the number of visitors to NSW in the past financial year grew by 25%, a trend we want to see continue.”

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) Chief Executive Leanne Coddington said Queensland was an aspirational destination for Brazilian travellers who love our lifestyle and beach culture.

“TEQ has stepped up its focus in the Americas in recent years to maximise opportunities out of the emerging South American market," Coddington said.

“We’re excited about the growth and future potential of the market and are delighted to be working with Tourism Australia to showcase Queensland’s destinations and visitor experiences via Globo’s visit.”

The episodes of Totalmente Demais, which translates to ‘Totally Awesome’, being filmed in Australia will star Juliana Paes, named as one of the 100 Most Sexy personalities in the world by USA magazine People, who plays the role of Carolina and award winning actor Fábio Assunção, who plays the role of Arthur.

Together they are caught in a plot of a dramatic love triangle in the fashion magazine industry filmed on locations such as Whitehaven Beach, Hamilton Island and Bait Reef in the Whitsundays, the Great Barrier Reef, as well as The Rocks, Bondi Beach, Quay Restaurant, Hotel InterContinental, Opera Bar and Sydney Opera House.

“I always heard so much about how wonderful Australia is. Now I understand. The people are so kind and the country has great energy, with a lot of good vibes,” said Juliana Paes.

Fábio Assunção said they cast and Brazilian crew members had been made to feel very welcome. “Australia has a one of a kind type of energy. I always wanted to get to know the country and the combination of Australian and Brazilian crews proved to be a great idea,” he said.

The show’s general director, Luiz Henrique Rios, said filming had been incredible. “It's a country with beautiful views where we can take very nice shots. Also, the people here are very lovely and so polite. They're organized and always helpful,” he said.

In the past year, the number of Brazilians that visited Australia grew 19 percent to 46,400 and spend grew 11 percent to $322 million.

“Brazil is about luxury experiences, fashion, fun and vibrancy, and by tapping into Brazil’s popular culture we have a fantastic opportunity to showcase Australia to huge audiences and, importantly, to attract more high spending Brazilians to Australia," O’Sullivan said.

“In the past, we have found high profile broadcast visits to be an extremely effective way of reaching consumers and showcasing amazing Australian content. The added advantage of this visit is that accompanying the cast and crew are five of Brazil’s top newspapers and mags, who will be writing travel features about Australia based on the experiences filmed for the show.”

The five publications accompanying the Globo broadcast visit include: CARAS Magazine, QUEM Magazine, Fohla, O Estado, and Marie Claire Brazil.

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