Hostelworld, Gold Coast Tourism and Lively Worldwide created a hostel entirely made of sand to build brand awareness and challenge perceptions.

In a world-first activation, online hostel-booking platform Hostelworld and Gold Coast Tourism have teamed up with global creative agency Lively Worldwide to create the world’s first sand hostel on the Gold Coast.

A whopping 24 tonnes of sand has been used to create the hostel, which towers four metres tall and took three weeks to build. It features two exclusive accommodation spaces for guests – an eight-bed dorm and one private double room – with a variety of food, drinks, live music and activities on offer.

The structure was created by production designer Jon Dowding, whose feature film achievements include Mad Max and The Blue Lagoon, and world champion sand sculptor Denis Masoud.

The activation aims to not only build awareness of the Hostelworld brand in Australia but also to showcase Gold Coast as a top travel destination.

“This partnership with Hostelworld is not only fun and innovative but celebrates one of the most important visitor markets for the Gold Coast,” says Gold Coast Tourism executive director corporate affairs and strategy, Dean Gould.

“We believe it does an incredible job of both showcasing the modern hostelling experience while also highlighting the incredible things the Gold Coast has to offer to young travellers who want to explore Australia,” says Hostelworld’s head of acquisition, Niall Walsh.

Mike White, managing director, Lively Worldwide adds that the activation is created as “an experience that would be a hero piece of a global campaign across both a physical and digital experience”.

“Working with local suppliers and their UK creative and digital business, we’ve designed a content series to capture the right stories around the experiences and believe this is a truly innovative and exciting project that reflects our live marketing proposition,” he says.

Located on Kurrawa Terrace in Broadbeach, the Sand Hostel will be open to the public from 20 to 22 September.