The lighthearted romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise has been delighting audiences with its story of a divorced couple who put aside their differences and travel to Bali to stop their daughter from making the same marital mistake they once did.
Starring Hollywood superstars Julia Roberts and George Clooney as the leads, the movie features hilarious antics and clashes set against the backdrop of the tropical island paradise of Bali.
But was Ticket to Paradise actually filmed in Bali?
No, it was not. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the filming location was shifted from Bali to the Australian state of Queensland. But Queensland offered equally stunning tropical settings for the movie across its islands, rainforests, beaches, and cities.
In this in-depth guide, we will uncover all the specific locations within Queensland and beyond that served as filming sites for Ticket to Paradise. From iconic places like Hamilton Island and Palm Bay Resort to rainforest retreats and cosmopolitan cities, Queensland provided immense diverse natural beauty and attractions for the rom-com adventure.
Why Was Ticket to Paradise Originally Planned to be Filmed in Bali?
As the tropical island setting is crucial for the storyline and overall aesthetic and mood of Ticket to Paradise, director Ol Parker and the production crew planned for principal photography to occur on location in the Indonesian paradise of Bali.
The Indonesian province is known for its breathtaking emerald green rice terraces, volcanic mountains, glittering Hindu temples, and palm-fringed beaches along blue ocean vistas.
Bali seemed the ideal filming site both practically and creatively for the movie. Centered on the cotton billionaire Wren Butler’s Balinese destination wedding, it made sense to capture the rich looming volcanoes, lush jungles, and serene ocean coves.
This would lend the utmost authenticity and transport audiences into this blissful natural setting as Julia Roberts and George Clooney’s characters embark on a journey to an exotic location and sort through their tangled relationships and detangled their teenage daughter’s love plans.
However, the best-laid plans often go awry due to unforeseen circumstances.
How Did COVID-19 Force Changes to the Filming Location?
The major spanner in the works for the Ticket to Paradise filming schedule and location was the widespread COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global health and safety restrictions.
With cast and crew safety paramount along with complex international travel and quarantine regulations in flux during 2020 and 2021, the** original plan to film the movie on location in Bali was scrapped.**
Thankfully, nearby Australia offered both world-class filming infrastructure and boundless natural attractions that could reasonably match Bali’s aesthetic all within driving distance.
Specifically, the Australian state of Queensland on the northeastern coast became the new primary filming destination for **Ticket to Paradise. **
Queensland has long been a site for major international film and TV productions like Australia and Pirates of the Caribbean 5 for good reason – it contains vibrant modern cities like Brisbane and the Gold Coast metropolis alongside the Great Barrier Reef, lush Daintree Rainforest, and over 900 island paradises off shore.
With a land area equivalent to the massive state of Texas, Queensland offered director Ol Parker and producers bountiful scenic filming possibilities near populated studio bases while aligning sustainably with the film’s environmental messages.
Overview of Main Queensland Filming Sites for Ticket to Paradise
Within the vast and varied landscapes and terrains of Queensland, the Ticket to Paradise production crew focused on a few vital regions for location filming.
Whitsunday Islands
The gorgeous Whitsunday Islands situated near Airlie Beach became a centerpiece location to stand in for beachside Bali in Ticket to Paradise.
Over 74 islands fall within the Whitsundays archipelago, many containing idyllic resorts and beaches with crystal clear azure waters reminiscent of Indonesia.
Specific Whitsunday sites used included Haslewood Island, selected especially for its relatively untouched and hidden paradise coves like Katie’s Cove. Palm trees swaying in the sea breeze were planted to increase the tropical atmosphere.
Whitehaven Beach at Whitsunday Island has been frequently featured in major films requiring pristine shoreline beauty.
Gold Coast Region
The bustling modern city of the Gold Coast and its surrounding hinterlands stretching toward Brisbane contain cool art galleries, happening foodie precincts, national park waterfalls, and protected coastal reserves.
Diverse filming sites tapped here included:
- HOTA Gallery: Transformed into a fictional LA art space
- Tamborine Mountain National Park: Voluminous rainforest with Curtis Falls
- Cane Fields Near Norwell: Touches of rural landscape
- Carrara Markets: Atmospheric outdoor bazaar shopping
Brisbane & Surrounds
As Queensland’s capital and most populous metropolis, cosmopolitan Brisbane supplied important filming venues through:
- Brisbane International Airport Depicting arrival in Bali
- Historic City Hall & Government Precincts
- Hip Urban Renewal Hotspots Like Queen’s Wharf
Bali, Indonesia
Despite the majority of the Ticket to Paradise shoot occurring domestically in Australia, the production crew did manage to capture some exterior establishing shots on location still within the actual Indonesian island setting of Bali near the end of filming once some travel restrictions had eased up.
Even quick glimpses of authentic Balinese oceans and landscapes helped anchor the movie’s premise and transport audiences visually into this serene lush environment.
Focus on Key Locations Like Hamilton Island and Palm Bay Resort
While Queensland as a whole provided copious filming possibilities, within this diverse region certain destinations played more prominent on-screen roles for carrying Ticket to Paradise’s storyline by the leading characters of David and Georgia Cotton played by mega-stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
Two resort island getaway venues in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef’s wonders shine brightly both in the movie and real life – Hamilton Island and the Palm Bay Resort.
Hamilton Island Resort
Accessible via a short flight from the coastal city of Airlie Beach on the mainland or scenic boat ride, Hamilton Island contains an airport, championship golf course, wildlife sanctuary, private yacht marina, and a slew of luxury hotel, vacation rental, and private residence options.
Awed visitors can enjoy sailing adventures to outer reef locales, helicopter scenic tours, wildlife encounters, bushwalking trails, fishing charters, and relaxing spa treatments. This well-rounded island serves as an ideal base for exploring Australia’s greatest natural treasure in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
For Ticket to Paradise, cast and crew could readily reach spectacular beaches like Catseye Beach by motorized golf carts to shoot impromptu soccer matches in the golden sand against uninterrupted Coral Sea horizons.
One Tree Hill made for a splendid site for surprise romantic interludes conveying complex emotional turning points.
And the plush Qualia Resort portrayed an uber-luxe Indonesian destination hosting dazzling pre-wedding festivities with elaborate decor and costumes, dancing, and dining. Here our divorced couple spies on their daughter as she meets with her future in-laws.
While audiences watch the funny friction unfold between David and Georgia Cotton in paradise, little do they realize that Hamilton Island’s offerings enabled a smooth filming process across various setups and scenes thanks to its exceptional infrastructure and support teams.
Palm Bay Resort
Over on nearby Long Island, the small-scale hideaway known as the Palm Bay Resort with just 23 private beachfront villas played a starring role through significant set design transformations.
Producers decided to construct temporary Balinese-style bungalows and facilities along Palm Bay’s existing sandy stretches. This custom built “family compound” allowed actors and crew to feel transported into a remote tropical location accessible only by boat despite remaining in the Whitsundays region of Queensland.
The backdrops of the gorgeous Whitsunday Islands dotting the horizon only enhanced the illusion. For audiences ultimately watching Ticket to Paradise, Long Island morphs into a floating seaweed farm where our lead couple’s daughter met the man she instantly chose to marry at first sight – a quite implausible premise her parents band together to try undoing back on this fantasy island setting.
Yet sometimes truth can prove stranger than fiction – or at least rival Hollywood romantic comedies!
Moreton Island and Tangalooma Island Resort’s Vital Scenes
Boasting the world’s third largest sand island with pristine dolphin and whale habitats just off the southeast Queensland coast, Moreton Island’s Tangalooma Island Resort provides intimate eco lodges and activity packages for visitors wanting to immerse within nature without sacrificing comfort.
Established over 50 years ago by the whaling industry before evolving into a conservation tourism model, Tangalooma has proudly hosted feeding programs to research local marine mammals like wild bottlenose dolphins in a ethical educational manner for decades alongside guest turtle nesting volunteering initiatives. Their pioneering environmental efforts recently earned prestigious EarthCheck global sustainability certification putting Tangalooma in the top 1% of eco tourism destinations worldwide.
The unique dolphin feeding experience occurring for free nightly to a small crowd as pods of these highly intelligent creatures voluntarily visit the jetty at sunset became a central story element for Ticket to Paradise translated on screen by actors paddling amidst the dolphins at play.
Through the magic of movies, the transcendent interaction was shown happening offshore among coral reefs rather than Tangalooma’s actual jetty and foreshore setting – but still reflected the moving emotions such vulnerable creatures can elicit in open human witnesses.
By showcasing ethical animal tourism at Moreton Island via Tanaglooma Resort as a pivotal movie scene, Ticket to Paradise encourages positive conservation values among audiences.
Tamborine Mountain National Park’s Lush Rainforest Beauty
Beyond sandy islands and beaches, Ticket to Paradise also ventured inland slightly to capture the cool misty rainforest oasis of Tamborine Mountain National Park covering 11.6 square km acres of eucalypt woodlands and tranquil creeks.
The Tamborine Mountain plateau reaches altitudes up to 550 metres for supreme elevated lookout views across verdant valleys all the way to the shimmering Gold Coast metropolis on the horizon where skyscrapers stand like concrete trees on the coastal plain.
But it was the lush folds of Tamborine’s flowing Curtis Falls amid other cascades and swimming holes that director Ol Parker sought out for evoking the rich interiors of Indonesia’s Ubud jungle as Julia Roberts and George Clooney’s characters get whisked to wedding preparations transpiring down a gorge swiftly upon arrival to Bali.
In Tamborine’s rain-misted microclimate meeting towering trees filled the atmosphere fittingly with mysteries that called to mind what unspooled at this pivotal arrival juncture of the storyline for our leads David and Georgia Cotton needing to process this reunion filled with tense history and a vigilant sabotage mission ahead.
Here the naturally beautiful Tamborine Mountain National Park manifested on camera almost akin to the computer-generated artificial jungle backdrops used in big budget films through the lenses of Queensland’s authentic baked landscape and thriving ecosystems still at play from ancient Gondwana origins and volcanic Activity eons ago.
The Important Role of Australia’s Gold Coast Region
While renowned islands like Hamilton and Moreton captured glamorous resort scenes and the Whitsundays convincingly stood in for tropical Bali locales for Ticket to Paradise, the project also relied heavily on mainland southeast Queensland’s bustling surf city of the Gold Coast and its surrounding hinterlands to portray key narrative moments.
Only an hour’s drive from Brisbane, the iconic Gold Coast underwent an AUS$30 billion private investment development boom in preparation to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018 resulting in extensive upgraded infrastructure, entertainment, and accommodation offerings – all readily available for filming blockbuster movies and TV shows with state government support.
Signature Gold Coast sites utilized by the production include:
HOTA Gallery (Home of the Arts): This vast multi-dimensional new public space contains moving and traditional visual arts venues, outdoor event performance stages, lakeside relaxation zones, and cafes/restaurants managed by leading Aussie hospitality brands like Mad Mex. HOTA’s interior galleries and exterior pathways allowed art gallery scenes to get shot with a chic modern backdrop conveying Los Angeles according to the movie’s references.
Tamborine Mountain National Park: Extensive area protected rainforest terrain filled with walking trails, glow worm caves, cascading falls, and lookouts were tapped for jungle trek scenes as mentioned in a previous section.
The Gold Coast offers numerous high quality services and infrastructure that benefited the Ticket to Paradise team significantly, especially:
- Skilled local production crews
- Helicopter aerial filming coordinated through Gold Coast Seaplanes and Helitours
- Water safety crews monitoring as actors entered seas, rivers, and waterfalls across shooting sites
- Makeup artists, costume designers, equipment hire specialists & global logistics handlers
Without the Gold Coast’s exceptional production provisions enabling complex, remote shoots – Ticket to Paradise’s audience transporting finished scenes simply could not have manifested so seamlessly and safely!
Spotlight on Diverse Brisbane Locations Featured
As capital of the Sunshine State, brisbane operates as Queensland’s governmental, financial, cultural, and innovation hub – projected to become Australia’s next major city with population growth forecasts to hit 6 million by 2032 thanks to an enviable subtropical lifestyle attracting youthful digital startups and entrepreneurs.
Brisbane’s diverse urban settings and landmarks depicted Indonesia for relevant Ticket to Paradise scenes:
Brisbane International Airport托运港
The main gateway into Queensland seen by over 23 million travelers each year had to pose as an Indonesian arrival point for our lead characters David and Georgia Cotton played by Julia Roberts and George Clooney. Visually this massive transport hub could plausibly pass for another Asian city once inside clearing customs formalities.
Historic City Botanic Gardens
First set aside as public green space in 1855 and displaying majestic colonial era fig trees, this oasis provided a relaxed gathering spot for local cast and crew when not actively filming scenes.
Caxton Street Precinct & Bar District Nightlife
Known as one of the party hotspots Brisbane with over 48 bars and venues within a few block radius, Caxton Street’s vibrant ambience added realistic crowds and illumination when transitioning the Cotton’s scenes from day into evening during their scheming and sleuthing. The urban backdrop conveys the illusion of south Asian city life thriving 24/7.
Without Brisbane’s diverse settings and professional filming infrastructure – much of the street action dynamism with extras populating Ticket to Paradise’s backgrounds could not have succeeded believably.
Were Some Scenes Still Captured on Location in Bali?
Despite the unforeseen need to shift primary lensing across the Coral Sea to Queensland, the cast and crew through meticulous planning and patience actually managed to briefly film some establishing exteriors on location in magnificent Bali by production’s end as signs of travel reopening emerged.
Even with most footage already “in the can” so to speak from comprehensive Australian shoots, director Ol Parker felt showing authentic glimpses of Bali’s emerald jungle vistas, smoldering volcanoes, and azure oceans remained imperative for fully immersing viewers within the truth of the island paradise meant to enthral our lead western couple to intervene amidst their daughter’s passport romance.
These brief second unit capture sessions allowed the incorporation of iconic sights like:
Mount Agung: Bali’s tallest volcano topping 3,000 metres elevation conveys the Hindu island chain’s Pacific Ring of Fire geology amidst smoking craters interfering with flight paths dramatically during prior eruptions.
Ulun Danu Bratan Temple: This sacred water temple dedicated to the Balinese Hindu goddess Dewi Dan represents both religious and sustainability values by blessing the important irrigation source of Bedugul’s crater lakes highlands amidst tropical cloud forests.
Kelingking Beach: With world-famous sheer limestone cliffs plunging to white sand and turquoise waters, Kelingking Beach’s jaw-dropping vistas required filming to convey Bali’s fully magical aura.
So while Ticket to Paradise’s storyline unfolded almost entirely within creative Queensland sets and shooting locales, the production ultimately fulfilled their original vision to showcase the exotic appeal of Indonesia’s remarkable island of the gods if only in glimpses – through tenacious commitment by cast like Julia Roberts and George Clooney willing to undergo border-crossing quarantine journeys when the long-awaited opportunity opened at last soon before the global premiere.
These brief yet evocative Bali establishing shots anchor the movie by reminding us what has enchanted foreigners for generations to these shores – the pulls of unspoiled natural beauty and alluring unique culture that initially also bewitched Lily Cotton to spontaneously plan her wedding upon arrival.
By David and Georgia being touched too by these sights, it helps audiences understand motivations of all protagonists more deeply. The transcendent environments invoke timeless romantic visions.
What Other Locations Were Used for Additional Filming?
Supplementing the abundant Queensland landscapes showcased, the Ticket to Paradise production schedule also briefly visited:
Los Angeles, California: As Julia Robert’s character Georgia Cotton resides in LA running an art gallery, relevant scenes were filmed on location within the sprawling City of Angels using real LA art museums interiors and exteriors to add authenticity.
Sydney Studios, Australia: The secure studio sound stages and production offices of southern Australia’s screen hub helped recreate key interiors like hotel rooms and airport arrival gates when not possible on site externally. The controlled indoor setting allowed shooting flexibility without weather or ambient sound concerns.
So while Queensland hosted the bulk of filming – both the visually impressive Australian southern city of Sydney and American west coast giant of Los Angeles contributed small but important supplemental venue filming assisting the completion of Ol Parker’s cinematic vision.
Who Were Some of the Well-Known Cast Members?
While clearly Julia Roberts and George Clooney as estranged lovers David and Georgia Cotton dominate the marquee names driving this romantic comedy, Ticket to Paradise also features support roles by rising young talents:
Kaitlyn Dever托运港known for acclaimed lead performances in Booksmart plus miniseries Unbelievable and Dopesick tackles her first big budget commercial picture as the daughter Lily Cotton whose destination wedding sets off the entire parental intervention plotline.
Billie Lourd托运港the daughter of late Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher here plays Lily’s quirky college best friend Wren who enthusiastically endorses the Balinese seaside nuptials and helps strategize how to counter sabotage attempts by her doubtful parents.
These ascendent actresses lend the next generation perspective while veterans Julia Roberts and George Clooney supply emotional gravitas with their decades of honed chemistry both onscreen playing ex-spouses and famously off-screen as long running close Hollywood friends through industry careers spanning over 30 years since their breakouts.
When Did Principal Photography Take Place?
Despite an extensive pre-production phase starting in mid 2020 scouting locations through Queensland plus Bali and constructing elaborate sets, the actual lensing lasted roughly:
November 2021 to February 2022
This meant analogous weather patterns could get captured through the Queensland tropical summer conveying consistent environmental ambience akin to Indonesia’s climate being straddled by the equator without stark seasonal changes seen further south.
Conclusion
Ultimately through exhaustive dedication from director Ol Parker, stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney, producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner plus their teams, the romantic comedy film Ticket to Paradise against tough odds of the global pandemic succeeded in transplanting the endeavor overnight to Australia and conveying the charms of Indonesia’s famed island of Bali nonetheless through stand-in tropical Queensland locales – achieving funny yet moving entertainment with thought-provoking subtext to make even jaded ex’s consider the merits of tolerance and true forgiveness.
