2008 Romantic Tasmania
Tasmania is a beautiful and uniquely Australian place which many Chinese people formally did not know enough about. AILETS wished to open up the Chinese market and increase Chinese visitors to Tasmania. Hence a documentary about Tasmania was created. Ms Liang Zi, an exceptional and extremely well regarded independent Chinese journalist with a remarkable C.V. of adventurous documentary work came along for this documentary and took many beautiful photos of Tasmania’s flora and fauna. AILETS enlisted Liang Zi as director of the Chinese documentary on Tasmania with camera and other personal from China Travel Television with whom she often partnered. China Travel Television is a major television station in China. The documentary was shown on “Global Trekker” a prominent and well known show broadcast at prime time across China. Liang Zi was very enthusiastic about the Tasmania documentary. The plan, in additional to bringing to Tasmania a high calibre film crew and director, was also to bring in conjunction a reputable magazine journalist and a senior journalist from SINA or SOHU (major Chinese web sites) and a master photographer. The focus of the documentary was to be the beauty of Tasmania and some of its best tour destinations. Filming took place in April 2008 over two weeks and the locations included Hobart, Launceston, Cradle Mountain and Tullah. AILETS partnered with Australian companies Tullah Horseback & Boat Tours and Australian Wilderness Tours in this endeavour. The project also had the support of Chinese partners, one being The Chinese Horse Riding Association with 1 million members. They are a major association and assisting the Olympic Committee with horse training for the Chinese Olympic team. Also the Outdoor Adventure Club owned by Outdoor Adventure Magazine, a popular Chinese magazine, was another. China Oriental International Travel (also known as “Donghua Travel”) is a business partner of AILETS and also supported this project, directing Chinese interest in Tasmania generated from the documentary into Chinese travellers for Tasmania. Mr Feng Tao, Deputy General Manager of Donghua Travel, travelled with the Northern Territory media group so as to develop the best plan for converting interest into travellers. His vision for Australia travel includes both the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Tasmania complements Northern Territory in wilderness uniqueness, in freshness to the Chinese market and in seasonality. Feng Tao hopes to direct travellers to Tasmania (via Melbourne) so as the visit is as much as possible and the expenditure as much as possible solely in Tasmania not as a round trip in conjunction with other Australian destinations.