China's canto pop stars to lure tourists to Queensland

Chinese pop stars 'Twins' are the new faces of Queensland's latest celebrity tourism pitch.Officials hope the canto-pop duo, featuring Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung, will lure some of their five million-strong Chinese fans to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Twins fanbase also includes Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, America and the Philippines, and their faces are well known, having fronted companies like Nokia, Biore skincare, Coca-Cola and LG."If you are Chinese, if you are from Asia, you will know the Twins," tourism promoter Vicki Tang said yesterday."They are a red-hot hit."

The partnership has coincided with the Twin's tenth anniversary together which, as part of their celebrations, they shot three music videos in the state's north.Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

The move comes after Cairns tourism identities and billionaire James Packer derided the Oprah Down Under extravaganza as missing Australia's fastest growing tourism market - middle-class Chinese visitors.They urged officials to find Asian faces and celebrities more familiar to the popular consumer heartland in China to promote Australia.

The Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, Jan Jarratt, agrees, claiming that China presents "great potential" for Queensland’s tourism industry."China is Queensland’s fastest growing inbound market, and it is forecast that by 2014 over 255,000 Chinese will visit the state as part of their Australian adventures" she said.

"Already China is Queensland’s fourth largest international market, with the state welcoming 172,000 Chinese visitors in the year ending September 2010. Chinese visitors are also spending more on their visits...in the year ending September 2010 [they] spent $336 million, an increase of 25 percent on the previous year."

Tourism Queensland has already taken steps to increase the Chinese tourist potential, organising a "Queensland on Tour" trade mission in March to "increase visitor numbers and let China know Queensland has bounced back from the summer’s bad weather."This move to make the Chinese canto-pop duo the faces of Tourism Queensland's new campaign is the next strategic step.

Source = theaustralian.com.au