Tasmania or Tanzania? Bindi Irwin’s mistake during her Cradle Mountain vacation, according to People magazine

Tasmania has had many tourism slogans over the years, from “Come down for some fresh air” to “Go behind the scenes”, but perhaps it should consider “not being confused with Tanzania”.

A major US celebrity news publication mistook the Australian island state for the East African country after the famous Irwin family visited Cradle Mountain, with Bindi Irwin posting images of her family’s trip on his Instagram, which has 5.7 million people.

She made the trip to Tasmania National Park with her husband Chandler, daughter Grace, brother Robert and mother Terri.

Capturing worldwide attention, it was picked up by People, which bills itself as the number one source for “the most trusted celebrity news.”

He posted about the trip, noting that “Bindi was joined by her husband, daughter, mother and brother for the trip to the East African country.”

“On Saturday, June 22, the 25-year-old Australian TV personality shared a carousel of photos from a family vacation in the East African country on Instagram, tagging the resort where they stayed, Cradle Mountain Lodge , in the last photo.”

The People article was also published to its 9.7 million Facebook followers.

The wildlife-loving family is dressed in down jackets in front of the iconic Dove Lake, and several social media followers rightly pointed out that the current temperature in Tanzania is 29 degrees.

One person wrote: “I once had a map of Australia that labeled Tasmania as Tanzania. A lot of people confuse the two and still get paid.”

Another asked: “Are they at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro with a toddler?!? »

Celebrity Reach

Tourism industry stakeholders said the gaffe was not bad news for Tasmania.

Amy Hills, from the Tasmanian Tourism Industry Council, said she would always draw attention to Cradle Mountain as a destination.

“While this seems like an unfortunate mistake, given Tasmania is clearly very far from Tanzania, it curiously gives us the opportunity to create even more buzz around our iconic Cradle Mountain,” Ms Hills said.

“When influencers like Bindi Irwin share snapshots of our island, especially when enjoying it with friends and family, it has great reach and potential impact.

Anne Hardy, associate professor from the University of Tasmania’s school of social sciences, said influencers and celebrities had a huge impact on people’s interest in places.

“Millions of people will see their message, so they will have a huge impact,” she said.

She recalled a summer visit to Cradle Mountain by actress Nicole Kidman.

“What we can see is that when you have an influencer in a particular area, when people go to that area because of the influencer, they often try to imitate what the influencer did” , she said.

Opportunity awaits

Dr Hardy said confusion in Tanzania could be a problem if people were looking for an experience they couldn’t find.

“From Tasmania’s point of view, there is a risk of losing tourists to Tanzania, but I think most people are smart enough to realize that, provided there is no “We don’t have Cradle Mountain in Tanzania,” she said.

She said Tasmania and Tanzania could work together under a twinning arrangement.

“They might have a lost travel agency if you have travelers in Tanzania looking for wombats?”

Dr Hardy said Tourism Tasmania could turn this into a new campaign.

“Tourism Tasmania is doing some really quirky and humorous marketing at the moment, so this story probably provides an opportunity for them,” she said.

The agency recently unveiled its “odd jobs campaign” in which it invites tourists to apply for positions organizing oysters and walking wombats.

“We have always been known as being quirky and unusual and this only strengthens the strength of our brand.”

Dr Hardy said in all seriousness that Tasmania’s tourism industry was facing a tougher time than usual, with this year’s Dark Mofo Festival – a major winter attraction – curtailed.

“The power of word of mouth and the power of influencers is extremely important when people decide where to go.”

Tasmania’s Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson said he was “sorry that People magazine did not recently visit Tasmania like the Irwins did, we are very happy with their stay here in our state” .

Mr Ferguson said he did not think it would damage Tasmania’s brand.

“This interest is welcome in the sense that we receive the same kinds of questions from our American friends, who sometimes think that the Tasmanian devil comes from a small island off the coast of Africa, and that does not make that stimulate conversation and inspire people to look at the truth of the matter and fall in love with our state.

Not the first time

Confusion between Tasmania and Tanzania appears to be commonplace, and the state’s entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is quick to clarify that the state “should not be confused with Tanzania”.