Aussie Specialist Program celebrates milestone

Tourism Australia is celebrating two years since the Aussie Specialist Program was relaunched in key markets with a new digital platform and expanded team of in-market trainers. The revamp of the program, following an extensive review, has led to a 63% increase of qualified Aussie Specialists globally with over 135,000 online modules completed in the last two years. Over 60,000 frontline travel sellers have also been trained face-to-face and the program has received a 99% satisfaction rate from agents two years in a row. The program, which has been running for 28 years overall, is Tourism Australia’s global online training program, shared by all eight state and territory tourism partners and designed to provide frontline travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia. Download an infographic on key achievements of the Aussie Specialist Program in the first two years since the relaunch.

ATE18 Seller applications open

Seller applications for the Australian Tourism Exchange 2018 are open until Wednesday 11 October. Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event will be held from 15 to 19 April at the Adelaide Convention Centre which has just completed a $297 million expansion and redevelopment. The event brings together Australian tourism businesses and tourism wholesalers and retailers from around the world through a combination of scheduled business appointments and networking events.

Australian Village sets up at leading global youth trade event

Tourism Australia is leading a delegation of 22 companies who together form an ‘Australian Village’ at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) in Montreal this week. WYSTC is the leading trade event for the global youth, student and educational travel industry to trade, network and take part in seminars and workshops. The event comes just two weeks before Tourism Australia launches a major new international campaign targeting the youth market. Tourism Australia has also been active in promoting the Working Holiday Maker visa to encourage young people from key markets to come Down Under for the experience of a lifetime.

Australia on show at Japan’s largest travel show

Australia’s wildlife and aquatic experiences were on show to thousands of trade, media and consumers at Japan’s largest annual tourism conference, exhibition and workshop last week. The Tourism EXPO Japan 2017, held in Tokyo from 21-24 September, attracted over 1,300 tourism organisations from 177 countries and regions and more than 190,000 delegates. The Australian stand was supported by all State and Territories and Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan was also a panellist at the Global Tourism Forum in collaboration with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) discussing sustainability. John also visited Mr. Tagawa, Chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents assuring mutual collaboration in promoting tourism to Australia.

Team Australia gathers for World Routes 2017

This week 13 Australian aviation partners have been exhibiting as ‘Team Australia’ at World Routes 2017 in Barcelona, where senior decision makers from the world’s leading aviation organisations have gathered to discuss, develop and plan network strategy. The event attracts around 3,000 aviation professionals from 300 airlines, 700 airports, 130 tourism authorities from around the world. In March Brisbane will host Routes Asia 2018 and Adelaide is also the future host of World Routes in 2019.

Australia’s premium experiences on show at PURE

Tourism Australia and 14 of the country’s premium tourism operators took part in a three-day business-to-business event with private travel designers and media at luxury travel trade show PURE Life Experiences in Marrakech this month. Tourism Australia was also a sponsor of MATTER, a two-day ‘un-conference’ held as part of PURE and focused on issues related to high-end travel. Zac Bennett-Brook from Saltwater Dreamtime and Andy Ridley from Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef also joined the Tourism Australia contingent.

Tourism Australia gives US foodies a taste of Australia

Tourism Australia has partnered with chef Aaron Turner, from IGNI restaurant in Geelong, for a special dinner in New York City this week to give some of America’s most esteemed food media and influencers a flavour of regional Victoria. As one of Tourism Australia’s ‘Friends of Australia’, Aaron recreated some of his uniquely Australian dishes for the intimate group of VIPs. The menu was inspired by Turner’s restaurant in regional Victoria with Wine Australia selected matching wines. Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said showcasing Australia’s unique food and wine offering through the eyes of chef Aaron Turner was an important way to generate advocacy and keep top of mind in one of our key tourism markets.

Tourism Australia launches new image gallery

Tourism Australia's image gallery has been upgraded to give users larger previews, improved search and faster processing. The new gallery, which is still at www.images.australia.com, was launched today and all users will need to re-register. It offers a range of 'feature albums' with collections of content from each State and Territory as well as signature experiences from around the country such as wildlife, Indigenous tourism, great walks and more. The gallery also offers a 'lightbox' function to organise selections into a group before ordering and even email to others for information, discussion or review. All images are availble free-of-charge so long as it is used to promote Australia as a destination.

Best of Australia showcased to German and Swiss travel agents

A total of 150 travel agents in Germany and Switzerland participated in an ‘Australia on Tour’ roadshow this month to learn about the unique tourism experiences on offer Down Under. Tourism Australia, Etihad Airways and seven Australian States and Territories took part in the roadshow in Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Zurich. The audience was a mix of qualified Aussie Specialists and agents interested in the Aussie Specialist Program. In the year ending June 2017, Germany was Australia’s 11th largest inbound market based on visitor arrivals and expenditure. Germany is consistently one of the top five markets for dispersal (currently ranked second), making it a particularly valuable market for regional Australian tourism operators.

Celebration in Dublin for Working Holiday Maker milestone

A special celebration was held in Dublin last week to mark the 275,000th Irish citizen to apply for an Australian Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa since the program launched in 1975. Rachel Gavin was presented with a return flight to Australia and a WHM starter pack, supplied by Etihad Airways and youth operator USIT, by His Excellency, the Governor General of Australia Sir Peter Cosgrove. The event was also attended by travel industry professionals, government officials and Working Holiday Makers past and present. The event was part of Tourism Australia’s ongoing activities to promote the working holiday maker visa in key international markets.

Industry update in Canada looks at growth of Australian leisure market

Fifty Canadian industry and media joined a special Australia update and wine tasting at the Chef’s House at George Brown College in Toronto last Thursday. Tourism Australia spoke about the growth of Canadian visitors Down Under, up 14% for the year to June 2017, driven by a growing leisure market and additional capacity and new routes introduced by Air Canada, Air New Zealand and Qantas. Upcoming events in Australia were also discussed including the Commonwealth Games in April 2018 as well as the Sydney Invictus Games in October 2018 which had special significance as the Invictus Games are currently being held in Toronto until 30 September.

BuzzFeed’s hit show “Worth It” comes to Australia

Australia’s world-class food and wine has featured in three episodes of BuzzFeed’s hit series ‘Worth It’, one of the most watched shows on YouTube. The videos, which together have already racked up over 12 million views, show foodies Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj, along with their cameraman Adam Bianchi, sampling Australian seafood, wine and steak at three price points: affordable, middle tier, and luxury. The episodes were filmed in Sydney, Melbourne and Victoria’s wine regions. The release of the three episodes comes ahead of Tourism Australia’s new partnership with BuzzFeed as part of a global youth campaign launching on 6 October.

New three day journey in Sydney’s Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Sydney OutBack has launched a three day tour to bring to life the diverse landscapes throughout Sydney’s northern National Parks and Northern Beaches. Staying at Cottage Point, the journey is a carefully crafted series of over 30 experiences by land, water and seaplane including bushwalks, visits to numerous lookouts, discovering Aboriginal rock engraving sites, deserted beaches, waterfalls and much more. Future tours will coincide with the occasion of the full moon.

Australia’s best restaurant openings this month

As spring descends on Australia this month, the nation’s love affair with Italian cuisine continues, most notably with the opening of Rosetta Sydney. Meanwhile, two of the year’s biggest trends – themed eateries and upmarket bistro dining – show no signs of slowing down. Read the story by Anthony Huckstep.

Tasmania welcomes new glamping experience on the Derwent River

The Truffle Lodge is a unique luxury camping experience on one of Australia’s first truffle orchards, situated on the banks of the Derwent River just 39km from Hobart. The Lodge opens on 4 October and offers a range of nature based activities for guests to experience the tranquil surrounding wilderness and wildlife.

Indigenous art shines at Parrtjima Festival in Alice Springs

From 22 September – 1 October, Parrtjima Festival turns the desert landscape into a colourful outdoor gallery, showcasing contemporary art by talented local Aboriginal artists through large-scale light installations. The festival is now in its second year and is the first Aboriginal light festival of its kind in the world.

Youth campaign webinar and infographics

Tourism Australia will host a free, 30 minute webinar on Monday 9 October at 4pm to update industry on its new youth-focused campaign which will launch internationally the week before. The campaign builds on Tourism Australia’s recent Working Holiday Maker campaign but has a broader youth focus, highlighting the most unique attractions and life-changing experiences for young travellers. The webinar will cover key facts about the value and size of the youth sector, an overview of Tourism Australia’s new campaign and advice on how industry can get involved in the campaign. Tourism Australia has also published infographics on the size and value of the general youth and Working Holiday Maker markets.

Industry Briefings in NSW, SA, TAS and ACT

Tourism Australia has opened registration for four free-of-charge industry briefings: in Sydney on Thursday 9 November from 9 - 11.30am at the Hilton, Sydney; in Adelaide on Friday 10 November from 2 - 4pm at the Playford; in Hobart on Friday 10 November from 2 - 4pm at the Hobart Function and Conference Centre; and in Canberra at Hotel Realm from 2 – 4pm on Friday 17 November. The briefings will involve senior executives from Tourism Australia and State Tourism executives providing an update on current and future activity and sharing research and insights from key international markets.

Australia top destination for UK gap-year

Australia is among the top gap year destinations for UK school-leavers and gap years are becoming more and more popular according to new data from Oyster Worldwide. UK travel association ABTA also noted over a 20 per cent increase in bookings with gap year companies. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Wednesday 27 September is World Tourism Day which this year focuses on how sustainable tourism can contribute to development.

Qantas has announced its seasonal service between Sydney and Osaka starting in December 2017 will be extended to operate on a year-round schedule.

Tourism Australia’s fourth annual Destination Australia Conference (DestAus18), the top tourism marketing conference Down Under, will be held in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March 2018. Register your interest for DestAus18.

Tickets are on sale for the 2017 RACV Victorian Tourism Awards on Thursday 23 November at Palladiam Crown.

Tickets are on sale for the 2017 South Australian Tourism Awards on Friday 10 November at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Tickets are on sale for the 2017 Queensland Tourism Awards on Friday 10 November at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Registration is open for the Youth & Backpacker Travel Week Australia 2017 on Queensland's Gold Coast from Monday 6 November to Friday 10 November.

Applications are open until 1 October for round one funding the NSW 2018 Incubator Event Fund open to organisers of new or second-year events in rural and regional NSW which are planned for January to June 2018.

Registration is open for the Australian Regional Tourism Network's (ARTN) annual Australian Regional Tourism Convention to be held from 23 – 26 October at QT Canberra.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland has launched a monthly newsletter, Reef Chat, aimed at providing media, travel agents and travellers with up-to-date information on the Great Barrier Reef.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has entered into a ‘Sister-Airport’ agreement with the Chongqing Airport Group of China which will see the two airports share expertise on operational and commercial development and tourism market development.

Tourism WA has created a short video to explain how it promotes WA to key markets including some recent examples of campaigns that have run around the world.

Tourism WA has developed a Major Projects Development Map which illustrates precinct, hotel, residential and commercial developments taking place in Perth and Fremantle.

Tourism WA has appointed Ava Ang as its Country Manager for Singapore and Malaysia.

Visit Sunshine Coast are currently recruiting for an International Marketing Specialist.

Geoff Culbert has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Sydney Airport and will begin his new role before the end of January.

Australian tourism and hospitality group Crystalbrook Collection has announced its acquisition of The Reef Marina in Port Douglas, which is now to be known as Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina, and its intention to invest a further $100+ million into the Marina.

Some of NSW’s best food and wine, walks, countryside and fun events feature in the latest four videos in the What I Love about Holidays in NSW campaign.