Tourism NT launches ‘Astronomeet’ – calls on Instagrammers and budding photographers to take part in astronomical social media experience

To showcase to Australia that there’s more to the NT than meets the sky, Tourism Northern Territory will this week be launching ‘Astronomeet’; an astronomy-focused social media summit taking place in the Red Centre.

Astronomeet will see three of Australia’s top Instagrammers Luke Tscharke, Matt Donovan and Paul Fleming, alongside budding photographers, shoot the skies above Central Australia to celebrate one of the best stargazing locations on the planet. The summit will take place as part of a range of NT stellar-themed experiences – including Uluru Astronomy Weekend from 14 to 16 August.

Says Tourism NT spokesperson Cory Gale: “The campaign was developed to strategically align with curating content that generates the greatest engagement on our social media channels. By partnering with niche, high profile social media influencers, we’re giving our audience content that they want. Our aim is to position stargazing as a key outback experience via astrophotography, and showcase the NT as a destination with unique, world-class events that create new and additional reasons to visit.

“The Astronomeet offers one more proof point to visit the NT for the 36 percent of Australians who are intending to visit the region, but are yet to book*, or for past visitors to come back and see it from a different perspective.”

Timed to coincide with the new moon phase of the lunar cycle – the best time for stargazing – the participating Instagrammers will kick off a five-day astro-exploration of Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Mt Conner on 12 August 2015.

The trio, who are professional photographers renowned for their atmospheric landscape and travel images, will deliver a taste of the Territory night sky to their combined Instagram following of just under 100,000.

The Astronomeet will also incorporate a public Instameet for local photographers to have their work featured on Tourism NT’s Instagram channel. Local influencers will participate in astro-photography workshops and put their skills to the test during evening stargazing events.

Tourism NT’s Astronomeet is part of a broader campaign encouraging travellers to ‘come for the stars and stay for a Red Centre adventure.’ Central Australia is known for offering an iconic range of stellar-themed activities such as the Tali Wiru and Sounds of Silence outback dining experiences, Outback Sky Journeys and Uluru Astronomy Weekend.

Tourism NT’s Astronomeet campaign follows the success of its six-day Hypermeet event in March this year. The Hypermeet saw prominent Instagrammers Matt and Mia Glastonbury, along with Matthew Vandeputte, use timelapse and hyperlapse techniques to promote the Red Centre’s most iconic attractions to their combined following of more than 226,000 Instagram fans and 1.3 million Google Plus followers.

In the year ending March 2015, Tourism NT’s marketing efforts have supported a 12% rise in domestic visitation to the NT.

Instagrammers visiting the NT during August are encouraged to share their images of the night sky by using the hashtags #astronomeet #NTaustralia.