BOLLY GOOD SHOW
INDIAN STAR PUTS FOCUS ON COAST
MOVE over Chris Hemsworth, there’s a new superstar in town – and she’s about to steal your thunder.
Actress Parineeti Chopra is as big a celebrity in Bollywood as the Thor star is in Hollywood.
And like Byron Bay-based Hemsworth, Chopra has been called in by Tourism Australia and Tourism and Events Queensland to show off the Gold Coast to her whopping 30 million followers on social media.
Chopra has spent the past few days sharing photographs of herself whale watching, visiting theme parks and dining out to bolster tourism from India, which is worth $18 million to the city each year.
The 28-year-old will travel to the Northern Territory today but she said she was looking forward to returning to the Gold Coast soon.
“I did some scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef the last time I was here,” Chopra said while at Point Danger yesterday. “Next year, I think around the time of the Commonwealth Games, I want to come back and do some more.
“For me Australia is all about the people – as an Indian I find a genuine connection with them.”
Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo said he was excited to have Chopra in town.
“She’s a superstar and she’s sharing our city with the world,” the Gold Coast MP said.
“We all know we live in one of the best spots in the world, so it’s great when a star like Parineeti can share our secrets to get more tourists here.”
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Leanne Coddington said footage collected during the trip would feature in a Singapore Airlines
FOR ME AUSTRALIA IS ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE – AS AN INDIAN I FIND A GENUINE CONNECTION WITH THEM. PARINEETI CHOPRA
and TEQ campaign promoting Queensland holidays in India from November.
India is Australia’s ninth largest inbound market with 283,000 visitors in the year to June – a 15.6 per cent increase on the previous year.
The Indian tourism market is worth $1.43 billion to Australia which makes the country the eighth most valuable for visitor spend. This is up 30 per cent on the previous year.