Business Events Australia brings major events to life in NZ

Some of Australia’s most unique major events came to life in Auckland last week at a function for 50 of New Zealand’s top business event planners and corporate incentive travel decision-makers. Hosted across three separate zones in a Heritage listed wharf building, guests were given a taste of Opera Australia’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s Australian Open and Bruce Munro’s Field of Light installation at Uluru. “New Zealanders are familiar with Australia’s business events offering, but this was an opportunity to give them another reason to consider Australia by showcasing some of our inspirational major events across the arts, culture and sport,” said Penny Lion, Executive General Manager, Events for Tourism Australia.

WYSTC Industry Roadshow

Registrations are open until Friday 29 June for Tourism Australia’s roadshow in the UK and Germany for youth operators attending WYSTC. The World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) will be held in Edinburgh from 18-21 September.

WA and TNQ feature in French WebTV special

One of France’s most popular media outlets, Le Figaro, ran a special 50-minute travel feature on WA and North Queensland last week on its popular web TV network, Figaro Live. The web TV show was shown live on Le Figaro’s Facebook page with more than three million fans. The show’s two hosts were joined by three guests: a guide from cruise ship operator Ponant, a travel journalist who had visited the regions and Tourism Australia’s Regional General Manager for Continental Europe, Eva Seller. The panel spoke for 50 minutes about Ponant’s Kimberley Cruise and the Kimberley region as well as the Whitsunday Islands and North Queensland. The promotion for Western Australia will be amplified with a 10-page feature about the Kimberley to be published soon in Le Figaro news magazine.

Advance Program applications extended

Applications have been extended until 5pm on Friday 10 August for Tourism Australia’s Advance Program which supports marketing activity to increase international visitation to confirmed business events in Australia and increase consideration of Australia by international business events decision makers. The program offers the Australian business events industry the opportunity to leverage Tourism Australia’s international marketing expertise. Business events that align with the Australian Government’s trade and investment priority sectors will be highly considered during assessment of applications. The Advance Program Prospectus outlines the eligibility criteria and application details.

Tourism Australia confirms key UK appointment

Tourism Australia has confirmed the appointment of Sally Cope as its new Regional General Manager for the UK, where she will oversee Australia's fourth largest international inbound tourism market which delivered 733,000 visitors to Australia last year. Ms Cope joins Tourism Australia from Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia, where she is currently Executive Officer. Ms Cope replaces Denise von Wald who, after five years in London recently decided to return to her home in South Australia and leaves Tourism Australia on 1 July. Ms Cope will commence in the London-based role on 3 September.

Aussie Specialist Training Carnival in Shanghai

Over 400 travel industry professionals gathered last week in Shanghai for the second annual Aussie Specialist Training Carnival for a comprehensive update on travel to Australia. The event was jointly hosted by Tourism Australia and Australia’s State and Territory Tourism Organisations and was also attended by airline partners in China and officials from the Visa Office of the Australian Consulate in Shanghai. Tourism Australia’s Regional General Manager for North Asia, Andrew Hogg, pledged support for an industry information-sharing platform for tourism professionals as part of the Aussie Specialist Program to support new initiatives that boost Chinese tourism Down Under.

Kelly Rowland visits the Whitsundays

American pop-music superstar Kelly Rowland shared moments from her recent family holiday to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays with her 7.7 million fans on Instagram last week, calling it “one of the most beautiful, memory-filled trips, I have ever been on.” Kelly’s video on Instagram received over 350,000 views and highlighted the beauty of the region as well as experiences available to visitors to the region. Tourism Australia supported the visit with funds allocated by the Federal Government to support Whitsundays region and encourage visitation following the devastation left by Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March 2017.

Attica named 20th best restaurant in the world

Melbourne based restaurant Attica has recorded it’s highest rating yet on the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Announced at the awards ceremony in Bilbao Spain, Attica came in at number 20 which is up from number 32 in 2017. This is the highest ranking of an Australian restaurant in over a decade, and Attica was also awarded the best restaurant in Australasia. To commemorate the awards held in Melbourne in 2017 graffiti artist Heesco has updated his added an Australiana flair to his iconic Higson Lane mural to remind the chefs of their time here. 

New unique vessel to cruise Gordon River in Tasmania

RACT Destinations and Gordon River Cruises have introduced their new environmentally conscious vessel Spirit of the Wild. The 33-metre catamaran features a hybrid propulsion system, allowing for quiet cruising on the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Listed Gordon River. New on-board experiences also include a character-based interpretation program and a menu featuring the best Tasmanian produce on offer.

Autopia expands with new Western Australia touring program

Melbourne-based small group specialist Autopia is expanding its footprint with a suite of new Western Australian touring itineraries. The itineraries will range from 1 to 14 days and connect Perth to tourism hubs such as Monkey Mia, Exmouth (gateway to Ningaloo Reef), Karijini National Park and Broome.

‘Girt by Sea’ exhibition showcases unique aerial photography

Over 100 aerial images of the Australian coastline are on display at the Paddington Town Hall in Sydney from 16 - 27 June 2018. These stunning photographs in the exhibition titled Girt by Sea were captured by Australian photographers Denis Glennon and Tony Hewitt as they circumnavigated Australia in a light aircraft.

Latest international arrivals data

Australia welcomed nine million international visitors for the 12 months to April 2018, an increase of 6.3 per cent compared to the previous 12-months. The increase, which represents an extra 532,000 visitors was driven by the leisure segment which was up 7.4 per cent on the previous year. China remains Australia's largest market with arrivals up 13.7 per cent in the last 12 months. Tourism Australia's interactive dashboard offers the ability to view the latest international arrivals data in more detail on a monthly and year ending basis.

Industry updates in Gold Coast and Brisbane

Tourism Australia will participate in Tourism and Events Queensland’s Conversations with Industry events on the Gold Coast on Thursday 4 July and in Brisbane on Friday 5 July. The annual events provide an opportunity to connect with industry colleagues and find out the latest insights, research and trends for each region. Tourism Australia will also participate in the inaugural Gold Coast Tourism Week from 1-7 July which will celebrate the significance of tourism to businesses and residents of the Gold Coast economically, culturally, socially and historically.

IMEX America 2018

Registration is open until Friday 6 July to join the Australia stand at IMEX America 2018 from 16 to 18 October. IMEX America is one of the world's biggest exhibitions for the meetings, incentives, conferences and events sector. It attracts international business events planners, media, destinations and suppliers from around the world. Business Events Australia has produced an IMEX America 2018 event prospectus which provides an overview of the program and participation costs. Space on the Australia stand is limited and applications are on a first-come first-served basis.

World Travel Market 2018

Seller applications are open until Friday 22 June for World Travel Market (WTM) 2018 in London from 5 to 7 November. WTM is one of the world's leading travel exhibitions attracting over 50,000 travel industry professionals to network and negotiate new business generating more than £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. Tourism Australia will have a stand at WTM and manage a reception desk for scheduled buyer appointments as well as fielding requests from non-scheduled potential buyers for appointments.

Tourism Research Australia has published the results of the latest National Visitor Survey with results on domestic visitation and spend for the year ending March 2018.

Submissions are open until Friday 31 August for the Queensland Tourism Industry Council's Prize for Innovation in Tourism.

Destination NSW has announced it will run 32 workshops and 11 webcasts in 2018-19 under the NSW First Program to assist NSW tourism businesses to develop, promote and sell their tourism products.

The Sydney Chapter of the Impact Travel Alliance is hosting its next event, NAIDOC: A spotlight on regional tourism, on Thursday 5 July at the Forest Lodge Hotel.

Applications are open for Destination NSW's Japan Roadshow 2018 from 26-28 September.

The South Australian Tourism Industry Council and the South Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon David Ridgway MLC, is delivering a series of industry events to discuss tourism and the visitor economy.

Tourism Tasmania is calling for Expressions of Interest from Asia-ready tourism businesses to participate in its Asia Mission 2018 to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore in September.

Applications are open until Sunday 29 July for the NT Government's new Recreational Fishing Grants Scheme. One million dollars has been set aside for the scheme with $500,000 available in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years.

Registration is open for ATEC Meeting Place 2018 which will take place from 19-21 November in Darwin.

On Wednesday 13 June Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, chaired the Tourism Ministers' Meeting in Adelaide.

Visit Sunshine Coast, Tourism Noosa and the Sunshine Coast Airport have launched a campaign in partnership with Air New Zealand to entice Kiwis to experience a warmer winter on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Tourism and Events Queensland has developed a manual to help Queensland tourism businesses create, develop and deliver Extraordinary Experiences through Storytelling.

Applications are open until the end of June for Destination Melbourne’s award-winning Melbourne Tourism Leadership Program .

Registration is open until Monday 25 June for the Tourism Council WA’s Marketing in China workshop to be held in Perth on Wednesday 27 June.

Recordings of the presentations from ATEC and Tourism Australia’s China Payments Opportunity Forum have been published on Tourism Australia’s website.

Expressions of interest are open until Monday 16 July for the $2 million Victorian Regional Events and Innovation Fund for events to be delivered between September 2018 and June 2019.

Applications are open until Friday 29 June for the Queensland on Tour Japan 2018 roadshow visiting Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo from 12-14 September.

Registration is open for the VIC Tourism Conference to be held on 30-31 July at the RACV Cape Schanck Resort.

Industry are invited to register their interest for the Destination Australia Conference 2019 to be held on Thursday 14 March in Brisbane.