Beyond The Map

By Eliana Wong, Sep 2, 2026

From the Great Ocean Road to the Great Barrier Reef, livestreaming is turning Australian destinations into real-time digital experiences.

For decades, Australian tourism has been promoted through carefully selected images: the Sydney skyline, the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru at sunset and the Great Ocean Road. These images have helped build Australia’s identity as an international tourism destination.

But the way people discover and experience places is changing.

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How does a destination change when we experience it through a screen?

Today, travellers can explore destinations through social media, virtual experiences and livestreams before they ever arrive. A beach, city street, wildlife encounter or cultural event can be broadcast directly to audiences around the world.

The destination is no longer simply somewhere to visit later. It can become something to experience now.

From watching to participating

Livestreaming has introduced a different form of digital tourism.

Traditional tourism media usually involves selecting, editing and packaging an experience before presenting it to an audience. Livestreaming is different. The camera is switched on and the destination unfolds in real time.

Viewers can see changing weather, crowds, local activity and unexpected moments. On interactive platforms, they can also comment, ask questions and communicate with the person behind the camera.

This changes the role of the audience.

People are not just consumers of tourism promotion but may now participate in storytelling. For example, a foreign spectator could follow a walk through Melbourne, in a livestream, while asking questions about the city’s street or architecture or culture.

It’s not so much about showing the perfect destination, it’s about finding a place together.

The appeal of authenticity

One reason livestreaming is attractive is its sense of immediacy.

Tourism advertising traditionally presents destinations at their best. Photographs are carefully composed, videos are edited and unwanted elements can be removed.

Livestreaming introduces uncertainty.

The weather might change. A street might be unexpectedly crowded. Something unplanned might happen in the background.

These imperfections can make an experience feel more authentic.

However, authenticity does not necessarily mean objectivity. A livestream still has a camera operator who decides where to point the camera, what to discuss and what to leave outside the frame.

The representation of a destination is therefore still constructed—it is simply constructed in real time.

Australia through a digital lens

Australia provides a particularly interesting environment for digital tourism.

Its tourism identity is built around visually distinctive landscapes, wildlife, beaches, cities, cultural experiences and outdoor activities. At the same time, Australia’s enormous geographic size can make some destinations difficult for international audiences to experience before travelling.

Digital media can help bridge that distance.

A potential visitor can discover an Australian destination through a livestream, research it through social media and continue following local content after returning home.

The tourism journey can therefore begin long before the physical journey.

A destination now exists simultaneously in physical space and digital space.

Who tells Australia’s tourism story?

Social media has dramatically expanded the number of people who can tell tourism stories.

Tourism organisations, influencers, journalists, local businesses, creators and ordinary travellers can all broadcast from Australian destinations.

This creates opportunities for local communities and smaller tourism operators to reach audiences directly.

But it also raises questions about representation.

Not every digital representation is accurate. Commercial relationships may not always be obvious, and creators may not understand the cultural significance of every place they visit.

As tourism becomes increasingly dependent on digital storytelling, audiences need to ask:

Who created this content? Why was it created? And whose perspective does it represent?

Tourism meets the attention economy

Livestreaming also changes the relationship between tourism and entertainment.

People may watch a tourism livestream because they are planning a holiday—but they might also watch because they are curious, entertained or interested in a particular creator.

Destinations are therefore competing for attention with every other piece of content on a viewer’s screen.

Beautiful scenery alone may not be enough.

Successful livestreaming requires storytelling, interaction and a reason for audiences to keep watching.

The destination becomes both a place to visit and a media environment to explore.

The environmental and cultural questions

Digital tourism can offer new ways of experiencing destinations, but it should not automatically be considered sustainable tourism.

A livestream might allow someone to explore a location remotely, yet it could also encourage large numbers of people to visit fragile environments.

There are also cultural considerations.

Australian destinations can have deep Indigenous cultural significance. Turning these places into digital content requires sensitivity to cultural ownership, consent, context and representation.

The immediacy of livestreaming makes these responsibilities particularly important because there may be little opportunity to correct a misunderstanding once content reaches a large audience.

The future of digital tourism

The future of tourism will still involve physical travel. People will continue to explore Australia’s cities, beaches, national parks and regional communities.

But the tourism journey increasingly begins online.

Travellers discover destinations digitally, research them through social media, watch videos before visiting and share their experiences while travelling.

Livestreaming adds another layer by allowing destinations to be experienced in real time.

This creates a tourism industry operating across two connected spaces:

the physical destination and the digital destination.

Australia’s tourism story is no longer told only through brochures, advertisements and travel magazines. It is increasingly being told through smartphones, social platforms, livestreams and the people behind the cameras.

A photograph can inspire someone to travel.

A video can show them what to expect.

But a livestream can allow them to experience a destination as it happens.

And sometimes, the most interesting tourism story is not what happens when we arrive.

It is what happens before we ever get there.