Fraser Island makes debut on Chinese travel show

FRASER Island is debuting to a television audience of more than 20 million viewers in mainland China.

Fraser Island has made its debut to an audience of 20 million in mainland China. Picture: Alistair Brightman

FRASER Island is debuting to a television audience of more than 20 million viewers in mainland China thanks to a collaboration between Kingfisher Bay Resort, Tourism Fraser Coast and Chinese-based travel production company, World Traveller Media.

Kingfisher Bay Resort senior guide Kevin Kinbacher hosted a film crew from World Traveller TV and a journalist and photographer from China's World Traveller Magazine on their whirlwind visit last year.

And the resulting footage is currently airing on more than 30 channels in China to staggering audience numbers.

Fraser Island also features throughout the March edition of World Traveller Magazine.

It also features in the Top 10 Queensland experiences on the media company's website, in their guide books and on a mobile phone app.

Kingfisher Bay Resort's director of sales and marketing, Kerry Brough, said China was the fastest developing market at the moment and presented a growth opportunity for the resort's Fraser Island products, in both the leisure and group series business.

"It's no secret that our traditional European source markets - Germany, the rest of Europe and the UK - are slow.

"So it is vital that we look to the emerging and fast-growing Asian markets like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India to ensure the sustainability of our businesses in a competitive worldwide tourism market," she said.

In the past six months the resort group has rolled out Mandarin MP3 commentary machines on their Fraser Island day tours; developed a special menu for Asian groups; run cultural training sessions for staff; employed Mandarin and Cantonese speaking staff at the resort; launched a WEIBO social media site, distributed Chinese brochures and featured in wholesaler brochures.

A Chinese version of the Kingfisher Bay Resort website is also currently in development.