Hamilton Island and Weibo announce landmark partnership: picture perfect paradise to be beamed to 780million+ online community in China

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Screen shot 2013-05-08 at 6.00.45 PM.jpgIn an industry coup, Tencent, China’s largest online community with over 780million+ active users has partnered with Hamilton Island to broadcast the Great Barrier Reef island to the booming China market.

One of the first times the colossal social network has ventured outside of its home country, Tencent’s QQ provides its customers with a popular instant messaging software service reaching hundreds of millions of active users on its digital media platforms. The third largest internet company in the world behind global giants Google and Amazon, QQ.com is the ninth most visited website in the world.

Next week Hamilton Island is launching its official Tencent Weibo account, kicking off the partnership and commencing its strategic deep engagement with China’s affluent travellers of the future. Working closely with Tencent, and Hamilton Island’s first Chinese ambassador Chao Xian Yang, Hamilton Island plans to build a strong Tencent Weibo community and fan base for the popular Whitsundays’ island.

Tencent Weibo advocates including Chinese supermodel Li Ya Hong, Hamilton Island ambassador Chao Xian Yang, Tencent Weibo executive Mr Xia Yue and one lucky competition winner are set to visit Hamilton Island from 15 – 19 May to promote Hamilton Island on Tencent Weibo and take part in the Ultimate Instameet: Return2Paradise. The group will experience all the Island has to offer, and share the picture perfect paradise instantly with Tencent Weibo’s hundreds of millions of users.

Considered the Twitter of the East, Tencent Weibo operates on the same 140 characters system as Twitter. However, as Chinese characters carry more significance than English, a fuller, more meaningful conversation can be started which, when posted with images, is how Hamilton Island will achieve its biggest impact.

Sophie Baker, Hamilton Island’s Senior Communications Manager, said: ‘China probably has more social media users than Facebook has worldwide. With China’s social media market nearly at one billion users, mostly on mobile, we are honoured to be partnering with Tencent Weibo to take Hamilton Island’s social media campaign to such a major growth market for Australia.

‘Hamilton Island’s Screen shot 2013-05-08 at 5.57.56 PM.jpginaugural Instameet last year exceeded all our expectations by starting a global conversation and reaching over eight million+ people through social media alone. For our Return2Paradise Instameet we now expect to surpass that number almost 100 times over, which is incredibly exciting,’ Ms Baker said.

Tencent Weibo executive, Ai Fang said, ‘Tencent Weibo’s collaboration with Hamilton Island is the very first time we have joined forces with a private island travel destination.

‘When it comes to luxury goods, unique and high-end experiences, Tencent Weibo’s hundreds of millions of users are highly engaged consumers with high spending power.  Tencent Weibo believes this is a groundbreaking initiative that holds significant meaning and value for both parties.’

Joining the Tencent Weibo ambassadors for the Instameet will be Instagrammers from Australia and the UK, including five competition winners, plus well-known Australian ambassadors. These keen photographers will unite for a weekend retreat for the senses, seeing, tasting, experiencing and sharing the Island with their photo app followers.

‘We’ve been using Instagram, with its 100million active users, as one of our primary platforms to distribute compelling imagery of Hamilton Island for a while now, in conjunction with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and YouTube for the global market. When this combines with our exciting new Tencent Weibo partnership, for the Chinese market, Hamilton Island’s social reach will be catapulted onto an entirely new level,’ Ms Baker said.

‘Social media has become a modern-day postcard; a way to share your travel experiences instantly with friends, family and followers around the globe. Hamilton Island is the perfect destination to promote visually using new social media networks,’ Ms Baker concluded.

Staying in varying accommodations to showcase the Island’s broad offering, the eclectic group will enjoy incredible activities from gourmet beach barbeques and seaplane flights over the Great Barrier Reef to beach escapes and mountain peak climbs, posting and sharing their images across social media networks including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr and now, new social media partner, Tencent Weibo.

To follow Hamilton Island’s Ultimate Instameet: Return2Paradise as it unfolds in real-time, follow @hamiltonisland on Instagram or Tencent Weibo.