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Aussies Rhys Nicholson and Tara Whiteman star in California tourism campaign

Los Angeles Tourism and San Francisco Tourism have launched a joint marketing campaign featuring comedian Rhys Nicholson and travel influencer Tara Whiteman.

The campaign, ‘2 Aussies in Cali’, will take the form of four online episodes with the two personalities travelling around hotspots in LA and San Francisco.


Nicholson and Whiteman – a.k.a. Tara Milk Tea – were selected for their different viewpoints, from Nicholson’s work in the LGBT community and Whiteman’s social media influence, the company said.

‘2 Aussies in Cali’ seeks to reinforce California’s reputation as the most convenient gateway into North America – after half a million Australians visited LA and 200,000 visited San Francisco in 2018.

Rhys Nicholson stated: “I’ve always wanted to go to the USA’s west coast but wasn’t exactly sure what it was going to be like or what I should do.

“As it turns out, California is like America giving you a warm long hug and whispering ‘everything is going to be okay’. L.A. and San Fran aren’t the types of places where you need to plan out a bazillion things to do everyday. I reckon you can just wade in and let the cities open up to you.

“Just standing on the street feels like you’re immersed in culture. And eat. Eat all of the food. The food you guys. I’m seriously considering defecting to a Cali life.”

Rhys Nicholson and Tara Whiteman star in the four-part travel series

Don Skeoch, chief marketing officer for Los Angeles Tourism, said in a statement: “Los Angeles is a global creative capital overflowing with one-of-a-kind experiences that Rhys and Tara bring to life in this campaign with their own brands of humour and energy.

“We want to build on the strong affinity between Angelenos and Aussies to inspire more of our friends from ‘down under’ to plan an L.A. vacation.”

San Francisco Travel Association President and CEO, Joe D’Alessandro, said: “Food, fashion and fun are collectively what Rhys and Tara are all about, a perfect match with San Francisco. We’re thrilled to have this dynamic duo explore our colourful city and help encourage Aussies to discover all that’s on offer, whatever their tastes.”

The campaign has also been produced in conjunction with Visit California and will be distributed through Nine Media and Flight Centre.

Australians will be able to find the episodes on Flight Centre’s dedicated microsite ‘2 Aussies in Cali’ and on Nicholson’s and Whiteman’s social media.

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