FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kristian Sonnier
(504) 481-7933
ksonnier@neworleanscvb.com

Australian Viewers Vote New Orleans as Main Broadcast for Sunrise

Jackson Square sets the stage for popular Australian morning show

NEW ORLEANS (April 11, 2017) - Last week, New Orleans was selected as a main broadcast location for Australia's popular weekday morning news program Sunrise, as part of the show's first ever "Mystery Tour." New Orleans was selected to be part of the "Southern States" segment and competed against Nashville and Atlanta for the main broadcast. This broadcast was the direct result of an opportunity that the CVB began cultivating months ago with the destination marketing agency, Brand USA.

The final stages of our work began on Monday, April 3rd, when Sunrise set out on an epic, five-day American "Mystery Tour," allowing their viewers to vote for the destinations they wanted to send their Sunrise anchors David Koch and Samantha Armytage. In just five days, the Sunrise crew hit Hawaii, California, Nevada, Texas and the ‘Southern States.' Australian viewers had 24 hours in between each morning show to vote for the next destination. Fifteen locations across the U.S. were chosen overall and the location with the most votes each day received a main broadcast. See full list of destinations below.
The ‘Southern States' was the final stop on the Sunrise "Mystery Tour," with New Orleans, Nashville and Atlanta on the list. New Orleans won the majority of votes from viewers back home in Australia, making the Crescent City the backdrop for the live morning broadcast on the April 7th show.

The live broadcast was staged at Washington Artillery Park amid the first day of French Quarter Fest with the iconic St. Louis Cathedral as the backdrop on the afternoon of Thursday, April 6th, Friday morning in Sydney, Australia. New Orleans pulled out all the stops for the Sunrise broadcast with an impressive lineup of talent including the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Mardi Gras Indians, Audubon Nature Institute alligators, a Brennan's bananas Foster demo, Café Du Monde beignets and a tarot card reading. The morning show wrapped on a high note with a New Orleans second line led by Dancing Man 504 and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

"This was an opportunity for us to reach millions of Australian visitors with a compelling invitation to come and visit New Orleans. Media activations like this are impactful in communicating with broad audiences in a format that goes way beyond what a paid advertisement could do for us. The city looked terrific and we expect this exposure to drive visits from down under to New Orleans," said Stephen Perry, President and CEO of New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Sunrise broadcast reached approximately 3 million viewers and another 4.7 million page views online.

Clips of the broadcast can be seen here:
Opening scene & FQF Second Line

Tarot Card Readings, Café du Monde

Closing Second Line

Audubon Nature Institute

Behind the scenes recap of the week with the viewers who won the trip to come along, New Orleans is featured from 2:55 until the end

Potential Sunrise Mystery Tour Destinations:
Day One:
Hawaii
Waikiki
Kona
Kualoa Ranch
Day Two: California
San Francisco
San Diego
Los Angeles
Day Three: Nevada
Las Vegas
Lake Tahoe
Pioneer Saloon
Day Four: Texas
Fort Worth
San Antonio
Houston
Friday: Southern States
New Orleans
Nashville
Atlanta

The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) is a nationally accredited, 1,100-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. The CVB and its members influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding and visitor services at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Chicago, Louisville, KY, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Brazil and China. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB celebrates its 57th anniversary in 2017. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com; www.facebook.com/neworleans: www.twitter.com/visitneworleans.

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