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INTERNATIONAL visitors celebrating Chinese New Year in Sydney will have the chance to make their mark in a 'Giga Selfie' overlooking the Opera House and harbour.
The supersized photo opportunity takes place in front of a giant Chinese dragon head installation at Dawes Point, in a campaign created by Tourism Australia.
It follows a successful trial on the Gold Coast in September last year, to encourage tourists to share their travel experiences on social media and inspire others to visit Australia.
Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan says the promotion creates the perfect platform for visitors in Sydney over Chinese New Year to share their celebrations across social networks.
"Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar," O'Sullivan says.
"It's a huge holiday and with our Giga Selfie promotion we reckon we've come up with a great way for our Chinese visitors to share a wonderful experience of enjoying this very special occasion here in Australia."
Travellers stand on a designated spot and have their Giga Selfie taken using proprietary technology designed by Canon Australia and a series of special cameras positioned 1km away.
A short video clip starting as a close-up selfie pulls back to reveal Sydney's top tourist attractions, which is sent as a link in an email with options to share on social media using the #GigaSelfie hashtag.
Canon Australia director of consumer imaging Jason McLean says the project was a highlight for the team.
"We're all about helping people make their experiences more enjoyable through photography, so developing the Giga Selfie technology for Tourism Australia was exciting," McLean says.
"There are so many opportunities for the latest Canon technology to deliver experiences that weren't possible before now and we look forward to our next project."
China plays an important role in Australian tourism, with the latest international arrivals figures exceeding 1 million annual visitors for the first time. The market is forecast to be worth up to $13 billion each year by 2020.
Tourism Australia's Chinese New Year Giga Selfie promotion runs between February 6 and 14.
Image: Olym Li, a Chinese-Australia resident of Sydney.
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