Gold Coast dances onto the Bollywood movie scene

The Gold Coast’s Famous for Fun holiday experiences will star in one of the most-anticipated Bollywood films of the year which premieres in India today.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey said the movie produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and Pritish Nandy Communications would create international exposure for the Gold Coast.

The Side Effects of Marriage features characters ‘Sid’ and ‘Trisha’ in a Bollywood dance sequence on Surfers Paradise beach, cuddling koalas at Dreamworld, driving a Cadillac in the hinterland and taking a romantic Hot Air Balloon ride, portrayed by the famous Bollywood stars, Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan.

“The film’s endorsement of the Gold Coast as a premier holiday destination provides a fantastic opportunity to promote it to the Indian market,” Ms Stuckey said.

“India is an important visitor market for Queensland with 37,000 Indians visiting the state in the year to September 2013 and spending $69 million on their trips, rises of 22 per cent and 16 per cent respectively."

Ms Stuckey said Tourism and Events Queensland had partnered with Tourism Australia to capitalise on the film’s influence, producing a campaign to inspire Indian viewers to holiday on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

“A series of print and television advertisements will put the Gold Coast front of mind as the ideal holiday destination in the lead up to the Indian summer booking period of April to June,” Ms Stuckey said.

“These campaigns will help grow the Indian market, assisting our industry towards the target of growing overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by the year 2020.”

Tourism Australia Acting Managing Director, Frances-Anne Keeler said India presents enormous tourism potential and a market to actively tap into through high profile marketing activities such as this film.

“Featuring in Hindi movies is a great way of reaching out to a wide audience base and the romantic storyline of this particular film provides the perfect opportunity to showcase Australia as an ideal holiday destination for our key target segment.”

[ENDS] 28 February 2014

Media Contacts:

Minister’s Office - 3719 7240                            
Tourism and Events Queensland – 0426 239 431
Tourism Australia – 0447 463 197