Australia’s Tourism Ministers gather in China

Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, hosted the Australian Tourism Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing this week as part of the China-Australia Year of Tourism. It was the first time the biannual meeting, which brings together state and territory ministers to discuss ways to grow Australia’s tourism industry, has been held outside of Australia or New Zealand. The meeting was held in Beijing to engage with Chinese officials and industry on how to attract more tourists to Australia. China is one of Australia’s fastest-growing and highest-spending international visitor markets. More than 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in the past year, and that number is forecast to nearly double by 2020. Find out more.

Tourism and hotel market outlook

Australian tourism has had another 'remarkable year of growth' according to Deloitte Access Economics’ latest Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook report for the year to June 2017. Both international and domestic developments are examined with commentary on the underlying drivers and outlook for the future.

Tourism Australia and UnionPay International to collaborate

Tourism Australia has signed a new memorandum of understanding with UnionPay International, the preferred payment service provider for Chinese tourists. The agreement will enable the two organisations to collaborate on business development and joint promotional activity. Importantly, it will also improve the Australian travelling environment and experience for Chinese visitors, by facilitating Chinese-friendly payment to help stimulate Chinese visitor spending in Australia and boost tourism revenue. In Australia, over 90 per cent of ATMs and over 70 per cent of merchants currently accept UnionPay cards. Find out more.

Amway China to bring major incentive trip to Cairns in 2019

Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP and Queensland Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Commonwealth Games, the Hon Kate Jones announced that one of China’s largest direct selling organisations, Amway, will be sending up to 8,000 agents to Cairns in 2019. Amway China holds large scale leadership seminars with a mix of business, sight-seeing and team-building in different destinations annually to reward its top achieving distributors across China. While this is the first time Amway has selected Cairns to host its flagship corporate incentive event, it has previously visited Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Tourism Australia announces new key distribution partners in China

Tourism Australia announced an updated list of key distribution partners in China consisting of 36 travel agencies in 12 cities this week. The agencies, located across the country, have been selected based ono their ability to offer a variety of Australia travel experiences suitable for independent travellers. Each of the partners will also enjoy benefits such as being featured in Tourism Australia’s campaigns and tailor made training opportunities for front line travel sellers. The announcement was made at a ceremony in Beijing this week as part of the official China-Australia Year of Tourism.

Australia wows North American business events buyers

In August, Tourism Australia’s dedicated business events team in North America travelled across the country to raise awareness of Australia’s diverse business events offering and to build relationships with key business events planners from the pharmaceutical, legal, banking and educational sectors. Feedback from planners indicated that Australia continues to be a desired destination for incentive and meeting programs. The team attended a number of events including the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence in San Diego, Senior Planners Industry Network in San Francisco and Incentive Works, the largest meetings and events industry tradeshow and conference in Canada.

New guides to Australia’s best fishing experiences

The diversity of Australia’s fishing experiences is as vast as the country itself, with over 2,000 marine fish species and 280 freshwater varieties – some of which are found nowhere else on earth. Australia.com has launched an interactive guide for the world’s passionate anglers to highlight Australia’s best fishing experiences.

A-listers celebrate world premiere of Dior exhibition at NGV Gala

Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has officially opened the highly anticipated exhibition, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture. Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Olsen, Jessica Gomes and Jesinta Campbell attended the inaugural NGV Gala, which celebrated the world premiere of the exhibition.

Australia’s best new restaurants

This month, Australia’s best new restaurants champion excellent local produce through the sleek, modern Australian bistro. Anthony Huckstep provides a wrap up of the dining experiences Australians are queuing up for, including a landmark Sydney opening and a Melbourne bar with a multimillion dollar makeover.

Longitude 131˚ gets glamping upgrade

One of the world’s most iconic glamping experiences, Longitude 131˚ in the Red Centre of Australia has unveiled several stylish upgrades following a multimillion dollar refurbishment. The revamp included the addition of a new premium suite, new panoramic deck and the property’s first dedicated spa.

Internationale Tourismus Borse 2018

Seller applications are open until Thursday 14 September for Internationale Tourismus Borse 2018 (ITB18) to be held in Berlin, Germany, from 7 to 11 March. Tourism Australia will host an Australia stand and a wide range of participation options are available, such as sole and share booths, and day passes for three or five days. In 2017, ITB hosted 10,000 exhibitors from more than 185 countries and 196,000 visitors of which 120,000 were trade.

Regional wine tourism to get a boost

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, and Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Anne Ruston, this week launched the Export and Regional Wine Support Package, to support sustainable export growth and increased international wine tourism to Australia. “At home the package will help to attract up to 40,000 more international tourists to visit our world-renowned wine regions, and take the great Australian wine tour, by 2019-20, delivering an estimated $170 million to the economy,” said Minister Joyce. Find out more.

Word of mouth and online reviews critical for Asia Pacific travellers

Travellers from the Asia Pacific region are seeking personalised recommendations and suggestions from travel brands according to a survey of approximately 7,000 adults who travelled internationally in the last year. Two in three travellers are willing to share personal information in exchange for these personalised offers the research also found. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Registration is open for the Tourism Marketing Rockstar Convention in Sydney on Thursday 14 September.

Registration is open for the Modern Travel Media Summit in Sydney on Friday 22 September.

Registration is open for the TTF 2017 Leadership Summit in Canberra on Wednesday 13 September.

Registration is open for ATEC Meeting Place 2017 in Perth from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 November.

Registration is open for the 2017 WA Regional Tourism Conference on Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 September in Albany.

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 available for the 2017 RACV Victorian Tourism Awards Gala Ceremony on Thursday 23 November at Palladiam Crown.

Limited tickets are still available for the Australian Event Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 13 September on the Sunshine Coast.

Destination NSW has partnered with Qantas to launch Meet the Sydneyporeans – a new three-part video mini-series that aims to inspire Singaporeans to travel to NSW.

NSW's Central Coast Council is inviting events, festivals and organisations to apply for funding through its new sponsorship program.

Tourism WA is planning a series of trade roadshows on Australia’s East Coast and in the UK/Europe, and is calling on tourism industry partners to provide input on dates for the events.

Qantas has announced that four of its B787-9 Dreamliners will be based in Brisbane, bringing 470 new jobs and opening up new potential international routes.

The Department of Employment is calling for tourism and hospitality businesses to complete a 10 minute anonymous survey into supply and demand in seasonal tourism and agriculture work.

On Thursday August 31 the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef website will launch and the Citizens sculpture, designed by indigenous artist Brian Robinson, will be unveiled on the Cairns esplanade.