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There’s something about Australians and competitions. Offer a free set of steak knives and we’ll queue. Mention the words “luxury holiday” and “all expenses paid” in the same sentence, and we’ll be elbow-deep in entry forms before the ad break’s over. So when Dilmah Tea dangled a dream escape to Sri Lanka, we didn’t just bite, we brewed a record.

Nearly 60,000 entries poured in for Dilmah’s Dream Escape, making it the largest morning TV promotion ever across Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise, and The Morning Show. That’s not just a lot of tea drinkers, that’s a nation’s worth of daydreamers picturing themselves on a clifftop at Cape Weligama, or gazing over tea gardens at Ceylon Tea Trails, cup in hand, smug grin firmly in place.

Two Milestones, One Big Celebration

This wasn’t just a marketing exercise. It was a double birthday party — 40 years of Dilmah in Australia and 20 years since Resplendent Ceylon’s first guests checked in at Tea Trails. For Malik Fernando, Chairman of Resplendent Ceylon and co-chair of Dilmah, the campaign was as much about sentiment as it was about statistics.

“This campaign couldn’t have come at a more fitting time for us,” he said, the pride unmistakable. “As we mark 20 years since Resplendent’s first guests arrived at Tea Trails, it’s incredibly rewarding as Australia holds a special place in the heart of our family business, my father, Merrill J. Fernando, found some of Dilmah’s earliest and most loyal supporters there. This promotion builds on that enduring connection and gives us the opportunity to welcome even more Australians to Sri Lanka, to experience the warmth, authenticity, and natural beauty that define both Dilmah and Resplendent Ceylon.”

You can almost hear Merrill’s voice in that, the founder who, decades ago, insisted on putting his name on the box and refused to outsource his ethics.

A Prize Worth Packing For

The winners, twenty of them, didn’t just score a trip. They scored a choice. Three nights at two of Resplendent Ceylon’s crown jewels, with the option of splitting their time between:

Ceylon Tea Trails – old planter bungalows where the butler remembers how you take your tea.
Wild Coast Tented Lodge – where leopards might be your closest neighbours.
Cape Weligama – clifftop glamour with an Indian Ocean view that makes you wonder why you ever settled for suburban sunsets.

It’s the sort of itinerary that makes packing feel like foreplay.

A Little TV Stardust

Helping tell the tale was The Morning Show’s Kylie Gillies, whose Seven Network series gave viewers a behind-the-scenes taste of Sri Lanka’s tea heritage. There was no overblown exoticism, no stock footage of elephants on cue, just the real story: a family business that blends premium tea with social responsibility and a luxury brand that still remembers its roots.

And It’s Not Over Yet

Think you missed the boat? Think again. Specially marked packs of Dilmah Tea still quietly offer Australians the chance to score a Sri Lankan escape. There is a box on a supermarket shelf with your name, and maybe a boarding pass inside.

Why This Worked

Some competitions succeed because the prize is significant. This one succeeded because the connection is real. Australians know Dilmah, trust Dilmah, and here’s the kicker, like the people behind it. This wasn’t just “win a trip to somewhere warm”; it was “come and see where your tea comes from, meet the people who grow it, and stay in places that understand luxury isn’t about marble bathrooms, it’s about how they make you feel.”

In other words, the perfect brew: a pinch of nostalgia, a healthy pour of luxury, and a generous dollop of authenticity. No wonder we lined up for a taste.