How do you inspire international travellers suddenly isolated at home in the midst of a global lockdown?

How about letting them feed a crocodile from the comfort of the couch? Or transporting them to Uluru for an epic sunset? Or taking them live onto the Great Barrier Reef to find their very own Nemo?

This is Live From Aus - a virtual holiday across Australia, delivered to viewers around the world in real-time at the height of the global lockdown, enabling them to escape to the land down under, virtually.

Reacting rapidly to the sudden closure of Australia’s borders, Tourism Australia created a unique new way to experience the best of Australia from anywhere in the world, connecting 127 million would-be travellers with incredible experiences in real-time, on the hour, every hour, for an entire weekend, generating 226 million impressions and delivering an estimated 1 billion reach through global PR.

Following devastating bushfires and at the height of a global lockdown, Australian tourism faced its worst period in history.

Covid lockdown had isolated would-be travellers around the world, but it hadn't diminished their desire for inspiration and connection. Analysis revealed a 3x increase in search for social live streaming and a 17.4% uplift in live news and personality anchored TV programming. People were seeking new ways to connect and get inspired, so we created something they couldn’t find anywhere else – Live From Aus – a live, multi-channel, virtual holiday, connecting viewers with the best of Australia, on the hour every hour, for an entire weekend.

To rally the nation behind Live From Aus, we partnered with national broadcaster Channel 10 to create a network-first, special-edition of its flagship program, The Project, uniting the network’s best talent to celebrate Australia’s tourism sector and introduce viewers to the Live From Aus virtual holiday experience.

Then we launched into 32 consecutive live streams, multi-cast across Facebook, Youtube and Australia.com, taking our global audience on the trip of a lifetime, virtually. Viewers fed crocs in Darwin, scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef, flew a chopper over The Kimberley, cuddled koala in Currumbin, soaked up an Uluru sunset and met celebrity chefs, entertainers and even The Wiggles along the way.

Our epic, cross-channel live experience delivered epic results:

- 1.27 million Aussie viewers watched our live TV special

- 6.6 million global viewers watched our streams live

- 34 million global viewers from 40 countries within 2 weeks

- 127 million unique social media users reached

- 226 million social media impressions within 2 weeks

- 1,765 pieces of earned media with 100% positive sentiment

- 1 billion estimated reach through global PR

-10x spike in search for Australian holiday experiences on Booking.com