Soapie towns not on any Aussie map
AUSSIES are mixing up their TV guide and travel guide with SeaChange's Pearl Bay the most commonly mistaken TV town.
Just under one in three Australians (29%) believe Summer Bay, the fictional setting of one of Australia's longest running television soaps Home and Away, is an Australian tourist destination, according to a nationwide survey by Hotels.com, the global hotel expert.
A further quarter (27%) say they would consider visiting Summer Bay for their next holiday.
Only one in 10 (13%) of Aussies think Erinsborough, the home of Australia's other long-running soap Neighbours, is a real place.
And, for those that do, it isn't as appealing a holiday destination as Summer Bay, with only one in 20 (5%) saying they want to visit Erinsborough for a holiday.
Pearl Bay, the home of popular ABC series, SeaChange, was the most commonly mistaken TV town, with one in three (33%) Aussies believing it is an Australian tourist destination.
Perhaps most surprising, about one in four Aussies (23%) believe Wandin Valley, the fictional birthplace of television series A Country Practice is a real tourist destination.
Hotels.com Australia and New Zealand marketing chief Katherine Birch said: "It's always a good idea for travellers to use the internet or a good old-fashioned map to research which of the fantastic real-life holiday destinations across Australia they plan to visit."
Top mistaken fictional TV destinations
1. Pearl Bay (SeaChange)
2. Wandin Valley (A Country Practice)
3. Summer Bay (Home & Away)
4. Fountain Lakes (Kath & Kim)
5. Mt Thomas (Blue Heelers)
