MUMBAI: Tourism Australia (TA) in partnership with Tourism Victoria (TVIC)and Malaysia Airlines have collaborated with Star Plus, India’s leading Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) to showcase Australia on their top-rated show ‘PyaarKaDard’ (The Pain of Love). Shot at iconic locationsin Melbourne and surrounds, uniquely Australian tourism experiences will be highlighted through a romantic journey of the iconic characters of the show thereby influencing viewers to consider Australia as their next holiday destination.

As part of this highly popular drama series by Rajshri Productions, the lovable young couples of the Dewan family, Aditya and Pankhuri,along with Rubel and Payal set out on a honeymoon visit to Melbourne, Australia. The highlights of their trip includes the lead couplessoaking in the sights and sounds of Melbourne city and surrounds including a fascinating horse carriage ride around the iconic Flinders Station and Federation Square, visit to the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, interacting with kangaroos and koalas at Ballarat Wildlife Park, reliving the times of the gold rush at Sovereign Hill, indulging in gourmet delights, enjoying in a self-drive journey across the scenic Great Ocean Road, a helicopter ride over the Twelve Apostles, watching fairy penguins waddle along at Phillips Island, amongst many others.

Mr. Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India& Gulf, Tourism Australia, said,“We are extremely pleased to partner with Star Plus to promote Australia as the preferred destination for romantic and family holidays through a show that has a huge appeal for our audience. Through this integration we have the fantastic opportunity to showcase Australia to dedicated viewers of daily soaps and entice them to replicate the holiday experiences of their favorite television actors. This ties in well with our strategy of educating the audience on the range of experiences available in Australia and we look forward to it translating into higher visitor arrivals for the destination.”

Tourism Australia’s brand promotion activities are ongoing till end March 2014 in the two primary markets of Delhi and Mumbai, featuring television, print, digital and out-of-home advertising. Complemented with prominent content integration activities including on Star Plus and the film Shaadi Ke Side Effects are expected to further enhance top-of-mind recall as the next holiday destination for Indian travelers.

As part of the airline co-op activities, Tourism Australia will have a campaign withMalaysia Airlines, also a key partner in the Star Plus content integration project with attractive tactical offers for Indian travelers to Australia.

Celia Ho, Regional Manager South and SE Asia, Tourism Victoria stated “PyaarKaDard airing on Star Plus has one of the highest viewership in India especially across the family audience. We are pleased to be associated with a show that offers a perfect fit to showcase Victoria as a fun and family destination. The state offers an intriguing dimension to the story of the couple. We hope that seeing their favourite characters enjoying the sights and sounds in Victoria will highlight the sheer variety of options and encourage the desire to visit Melbourne.”

According to Mr. Azahar Hamid, Malaysia Airlines’ Regional Senior Vice President, South Asia and Middle East, ‘We are thrilled to be associated with one of the most popular and leading TV programmes like ‘PyaarKaDard’ at Star Plus. This is a great opportunity for us to promote Malaysia Airlines’ five star services globally. I am confident that such associations will help us build major presence in India to showcase our premium offering when travelling on Malaysia Airlines.’

Nikhil Madhok Senior Vice President Marketing and Programming Strategy, Star Plus said, “Star provides the most relevant platforms to brands from across categories to showcase their offerings through seamless integration with our content. Tourism Australia wanted to connect with our audiences at an emotional level hence the honeymoon track in PyaarKaDard has been designed to showcase the scenic offerings of Melbourne as well as well as position Australia as an aspirational honeymoon destination"

Australia has witnessed a solid increase in visitor arrivals from India which is currently its 10th largest inbound tourism market. There were 20,600 visitors from India during December 2013, bringing the total for the twelve months to December to 171,700, an increase of 7.9 per cent relative to the same period previous year. Leisure arrivals during the year 2013 recorded an impressive 15 per cent increase over 2012. India is also the 11th largest source market in terms of expenditure.