Visit Victoria courts Malaysian travellers with creator-led winter trip

From Melbourne's laneways to the snow-covered slopes of Mt Buller, Visit Victoria is giving Malaysian travellers a taste of an Australian winter through a creator-led campaign that pairs destination inspiration with a retail twist.

The tourism body has teamed up with travel fashion retailer Universal Traveller to send Malaysian content creators across Melbourne and regional Victoria, where they experienced the region's attractions while testing the retailer's Therma Pro winter wear range. The partnership brings together Visit Victoria's destination marketing efforts and Universal Traveller's products for Malaysians preparing for cold-weather trips.

The trip took the creators from Melbourne’s street art laneways to the alpine snow at Mt Buller, the vineyards of the Yarra Valley and the coastline of the Mornington Peninsula. Going from city streets to snowy summits, the idea was to prove that winter travel can be as comfortable as it is memorable. 

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Content from the trip has been packaged as a guide to “7 winter experiences to chase in Melbourne and beyond”. The itinerary covers laneways and street art, historic markets such as South Melbourne Market, sunset at St Kilda Pier and the Brighton Bathing Boxes, a day at Mt Buller with a chairlift ride and a husky sled ride, chocolate making and Puffing Billy in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges, art and wine on the Mornington Peninsula, and a finish at Peninsula Hot Springs.

The guide leans into Malaysian connections. It includes Krimper, the laneway café founded by Ipoh-born architect Mun Soon, and Hojiak, run by Penang-born chef Junda Khoo, who puts a modern Melbourne spin on his grandmother’s recipes.

Readers are directed to Visit Victoria’s website for destination information, and to Universal Traveller’s website and a dedicated “UT goes Melbourne 2026” page to shop the winter wear featured throughout the trip.

The partnership pairs a destination with a retailer that serves Malaysians planning trips to cold-weather destinations, with products placed in the content. Universal Traveller says it has been a leader in travel fashion and lifestyle for over 40 years, with more than 70 locations across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The campaign was issued on behalf of Visit Victoria by GO Communications.

For Victoria, Malaysia is a growing market. Tourism Australia says arrivals from Malaysia reached 213,681 in the year to December 2025, up 5%, with Melbourne among the gateway cities that Malaysian travellers favour and about seven in 10 leisure travellers returning for another stay. Visit Victoria markets itself globally under its “Every bit different” platform, launched in 2024.

The partnership taps into Malaysians’ appetite for cold-weather travel ahead of the year-end holidays. Decathlon Malaysia, for one, has brought winter in-store with a -5°C activation, letting shoppers test base layers and thermal jackets before they travel.

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