Australian tourism delegation heads to China

Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, is visiting Beijing and Shanghai this week to advance the Australia China trade relationship and attend events marking the China Australia Year of Tourism. At the opening gala event Minister Ciobo appointed Chinese actor Wu Xiubo as Tourism Australia's Ambassador for the year-long celebration. During the week Minister Ciobo also witnessed the signing of memorandums of understanding between Tourism Australia and Bank of China and Ctrip, China's leading online travel agent. In addition, Minister Ciobo and the Hon Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, announced this week that Chinese nationals are now able to apply online for a visitor visa to make the process smoother and faster for Chinese visitors to Australia.

Events mentoring program

Tourism Australia has partnered with Meetings & Events Australia to launch a national mentoring program designed to grow the leadership skills in the Australian events industry. The program, launched at AIME 2017, offers Mentees the opportunity to connect with an experienced industry representative to discuss their career. For more information on mentoring or receiving mentorship via the program contact meaevents@mea.org.au.

AFL match in Shanghai aims to hits the mark with Chinese travellers

Tourism Australia is partnering with the Australian Football League (AFL) to bring the excitement of a Toyota AFL Premiership Season match to Shanghai. The announcement was made by the Hon Steven Ciobo, Minister for Tourism, Trade and Investment in Shanghai as part of the China Australia Year of Tourism  activities this week. The South Australian Tourism Commission and Tourism and Events Queensland are also contributing to the sponsorship which will see AFL teams Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns play on Sunday 14 May at Jiangwan Stadium.

Lucy Watson inspires young Brits to come Down Under

British celebrity Lucy Watson is in Sydney this week as part of Tourism Australia's campaign to entice more working holiday makers Down Under. Ms Watson, who starred in eight series of the reality TV series Made in Chelsea, is posting photos from her trip on Instagram where she has a following of 1.4 million people. “Our Working Holiday Maker program provides the perfect launch-pad for a life-changing year, maybe even two, combining travel with temporary work,” said John O’Sullivan, Tourism Australia Managing Director.

Brits bowled over by opportunity to attend the 2017/18 Ashes Series

Tourism Australia has been building excitement in the UK for the 2017/18 Ashes Series starting in Brisbane in November to generate bookings and inspire consumers to disperse beyond the host cities. Activity has included: a media partnership with the Guardian newspaper and Qantas; a 28 page Ashes magazine with the Daily Telegraph; 30 pages of destination content in the Barmy Army’s online Ashes guide; and content on www.australia.com/ashes, all supported by PR and distribution activity. Supplier sales to date indicate the 2017/18 series is proving even more popular than the last 2013/14 series held in Australia.

Australia showcased to Hong Kong trade and media

Over 80 travel industry leaders and media in Hong Kong attended a dinner hosted by Tourism Australia last week where they received an update on the latest tourism news from each State and Territory. The Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong attended the event along with representatives from State and Territory tourism organisations who gave presentations. The next day over 50 product executives and Aussie Specialists attended a full day product sharing workshop to learn more about new and diverse travel experiences Down Under.

Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo

Tourism Australia’s Business Events Australia team supported Australian industry at AIME as sponsors of the hosted buyer welcome event in partnership with the Melbourne Convention Bureau. Tourism Australia is also hosting the Australia stand at the show, raising awareness of Australia’s business events offering with international buyers and media. The Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, with hosted buyers and trade visitors from Australia and around the world attending the event.

Australia on top in Sweden

Australia has won ‘Best Country’ by Swedish trade publication Travel News. Voted for by nearly 1000 travel agents, the prestigious award highlighted lower airfares and high booking rates as the main reasons for choosing Australia which won joint position with Thailand.

Aussie chefs awarded in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards

David Thompson’s Thailand restaurant Nahm has been named #5 and David Pynt Singapore restaurant Burnt Ends has been named #10 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2017. Friends of Australia Andre Chang and Julien Royer were also awarded, with their respective restaurants Restaurant Andre named #2 and Odette #9, and the title of Highest New Entry of all time.

Sky high dining comes to Perth

The unique dining experience, Dinner in the Sky, seats 22 people around a bar-table lifted 60 metres off the ground by a crane. Located at South Perth foreshore, diners can enjoy stunning views of the iconic Swan River, Perth City skyline and Perth Hills for either brunch, lunch, cocktails or dinner.

New ‘aeroglamper’ in the Grampians

Halls Gap Lakeside Tourist Park  in the Grampians has launched a unique glamping experience, involving a 5 star luxury canvas safari tent with a rugged Australian outback feel connected to a Boeing 737 flight simulator.

Canberra Balloon Spectacular, 11 – 19 March

Hundreds of colourful and special shape balloons from across the globe will take to the skies for the 2017 Canberra Balloon Spectacular from 11 – 19 March. Each day from 6.15am, pilots will begin laying out and inflating their balloons on the lawns of Old Parliament House before ascending into the sky and creating an exhilarating back drop to our national Capital’s attractions.

Destination Australia Conference 2017

The top tourism conference Down Under is back. Tourism Australia has opened registration for its Destination Australia Conference on Thursday 16 March 2017 in Sydney. The conference includes top speakers from leading organisations including Skift, Facebook, Google, Mastercard and more. Download the agenda and register.

Indonesia Australia Business Week

Registrations are open for Indonesia Australia Business Week (IABW) 2017. The tourism stream in IABW 2017 includes two sub-sectors: tourism promotion and tourism destination development for tourism consultants, planners, operators, developers and investors. The IABW program will include opportunities to engage with Indonesian government officials, key industry players and customers over four days in the week commencing 6 March.

Industry briefings in Darwin and Melbourne

Tourism Australia will host free-of-charge industry briefings in Darwin on Friday 24 February, ahead of the national Qantas Australian Tourism Awards and Melbourne on Monday 6 March, alongside the Victorian Tourism Industry Council’s 2017 Forum. The briefings will involve senior executives from Tourism Australia providing an update on current and future activity and sharing research and insights from key international markets. Registrations are open now.

Megatrends defining travel in 2017

Travel publisher Skift has released its 2017 megatrends report based upon its curation of research and trends throughout the last year, drawing on surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Skift co-founder and editor-in-chief, Jason Clampet, will speak at the Destination Australia Conference  on these megatrends. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel, visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Aussie cricketing legend, Matt Hayden, is the star of Tourism NT's new drive campaign  launched last week.

Through support from the NT Government, Atrip Hub NT is running a one-day China Ready workshop in Darwin on Monday 27 February at H105 on Mitchell Street in Darwin.

A new dedicated youth campaign showcasing the Northern Territory as a cool, must-do destination to Australians and international backpackers in Australia kicked off on 13 February.

Palisade Investment Partners will be responsible for operating, investing and developing Sunshine Coast Airport and will oversee future negotiations with airlines to expand both domestic and international routes available from the Sunshine Coast.

Meetings & Events Australia has revealed the program for its 2017 National Conference to be held at the ICC Sydney from 30 April to 2 May.

Registrations are open for the Local Government NSW Tourism Conference to be held in Taree from 12-14 March 2017 at the Manning Entertainment Centre.

The South Australian Tourism Commission has developed SA campaign calendars which cover domestic wholesale, online travel agents and Eastern and Western hemisphere activities.

Tourism Central Australia is inviting all members of the travel and tourism community who engage with or care about the Red Centre to participate in a review of its structure and organisation.

The South Australian Tourism Commission has published a short video on South Australia’s cruise ship industry.

Outback Queensland Tourism is running an Outback photo competition with the winning photo to appear on the cover of the 2018-19 Outback Queensland Travellers Guide.

ATEC and the South Australian Tourism Commission are inviting South Australian sellers to register for Discover SA 2017 .

Tourism Council WA has launched an advertising campaign promoting the value of tourism in the lead up to the 2017 State election on 11 March.

Visit Sunshine Coast has launched a new destination marketing campaign called ‘Come to Life’ building on the region’s ‘naturally refreshing’ branding.

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s $200 million expansion is due for completion in mid-2018 adding nearly 20,000 square metres of event space.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) will hold a Tourism Industry Transformation Forum in Cairns on 23 February.

The Tourism eSchool is running a free tourism marketing webinar on Tuesday 4 April.