Essentials this week… | 8m international vi sitors | Video on social media | Travel Lea ders | WTM | Gelinaz! Shuffle | and more …

As part of a yearlong marketing partnership Tourism Australia were major sponsors of the Travel Leaders National Meeting in New Orleans earlier this month where 800 US travel agency owners, managers and preferred suppliers gathered for the three day event. Tourism Australia hosted an Australia workshop, a booth at the agent tradeshow and gave a closing lunch presentation showcasing its work with the Adventure Travel Trade Association and Travel Leaders in the active and adventure segment. Tourism and Events Queensland and Tourism NT also attended the meeting. For more information on Tourism Australia’s Travel Leaders partnership contact Sarah Postler.

Tourism Australia wrapped up another successful year at World Travel Market in London last week, one of the leading global events for the travel industry. This year saw a record number of stand partners in attendance including airlines, state and territory partners and other key tourism product. A number of media interviews were held and Tourism Australia was awarded the most ‘agent-friendly’ tourist board for the Aussie Specialist Program by industry magazine Selling Travel.

Four of Australia’s top chefs were amongst a group of 40 from around the world to swap kitchens for a night for global food event The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle on 10 November. All guest chefs remained a mystery until the night of the dinner. Ben Shewry from Melbourne’s Attica and Jock Zonfrillo from Orana in Adelaide travelled to USA; Dan Hunter from Brae in Regional Victoria cooked in Brazil and Paul Carmichael from Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney found himself in Paris, France. Tourism Australia along with Visit Victoria and the South Australian Tourism Commission have partnered with Gelinaz! to support travel for the Australian and international chefs participating in the event. Find out more.

Over 50 of Australia’s business events suppliers joined Tourism Australia’s specialist unit, Business Events Australia (BEA), last week at the Pacific Area Incentives & Conferences Expo (PAICE), a major trade show for New Zealand based organisers of incentives, conferences and events. This was the largest ever Australian contingent to attend the show and included a number of first-time exhibitors. "The business events market in New Zealand continues to produce strong results," said Penny Lion, Executive General Manager Events, Tourism Australia. "Our task is to continue to inspire and inform New Zealand buyers to keep choosing Australia over other destinations and PAICE is the ideal platform to connect Australian industry with event planners to discuss new concepts and experiences,” she said.

Hong Kong’s leading travel and lifestyle publication, U Magazine, praised Tourism Australia’s recent activities at an awards ceremony on 11 November. Tourism Australia was awarded ‘Best Marketing Campaign’ for Aquatic and Coastal and ‘Best Promotion Video’ for its City Explorer campaign, demonstrating excellence in the tourism industry. More than 200 travel brands competed for 60 travel awards voted on by 100,000 readers, celebrities and travel industry professionals.

Tourism Australia won two business events awards in China last week: ‘Best Long Haul Destination for Incentive Travel’ at the Meeting China Awards and ‘Best Destination for promoting BT-MICE in China’ at the Best Travel Awards. Tourism Australia has now won seven business events awards in Greater China in 2016. “It’s great to see Australia being recognised in Greater China as an exceptional business events destination. These awards are testament to the hard work that our team and the Australian business events industry puts into attracting business from this key market,” said Penny Lion, Tourism Australia’s Executive General Manager Events.

Australia now has two new services from Air China and China Eastern Airlines into Sydney. Air China’s Chengdu-Sydney route touched down at Sydney Airport last Saturday commencing three weekly services. Sydney Airport also welcomed a new direct China Eastern Airlines service from Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, on 16 November. “Aviation development is a huge part of the China story and critically important to Australian tourism achieving its long-term growth targets. With the addition of these new services, it's never been easier for Chinese visitors to come Down Under," said Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan. Photo: Air China.

Prince Harry recorded a personal video message from Tourism Australia’s London office as part of the launch of the 2018 Invictus Games to be held in Sydney from 18-29 October 2018 with over 500 military competitors from 17 nations. The Invictus Games use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women and the families that play such an important supporting role. “Sydney will do a wonderful job hosting the 2018 Invictus Games. As Prince Harry said, it ticks all the boxes the organisers wanted ticking and the world can be assured that Australians will get behind these inspirational athletes in a big way and for an event which truly transcends sport,” said John O’Sullivan, Tourism Australia Managing Director.

The winners of the 2016 Tourism Awards in South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Western Australia have been announced at glittering gala ceremonies over the past two weeks. Further awards celebrations will be held in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria on Thursday 24 November with the national awards ceremony, the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, to be held on Friday 24 February in Darwin.

In any given day, 80 per cent of consumers use a smartphone, with 57 per cent using more than one type of device. As a result of these trends, more Google searches are happening on smartphones than on computers. This special Google report has collated mobile trends and insights into what consumers are doing across screens. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel, visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.