New Business Events Australia website

To show the world why there’s nothing like Australia for business events Tourism Australia has launched a new business events website to give visitors an enhanced user experience and more opportunities to connect with Australian business events suppliers. The new site, www.australia.com/businessevents, offers planners and decision makers direct access to Tourism Australia business events representatives and Australian business events products and destinations, to allow users to easily make contact with sources of inspiration and information on holding a business event in Australia. Find out more.

ELITE applications open

Applications are open for ATEC's 2017 Emerging Leaders of Inbound Tourism Excellence (ELITE) Program. The ELITE program provides emerging leaders a platform to extend their industry knowledge, develop leadership skills and create networking relationships. Photo: Tourism Australia's 2016 ELITE graduates.

Japan Airlines launches Tokyo-Melbourne service

Tourism Australia will work closely with Japan Airlines (JAL) and Visit Victoria on actively marketing the carrier’s newly announced direct flights between Melbourne and Tokyo available from September. Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said the new JAL service was perfectly timed, with visitor numbers from Japan having grown 22.7 per cent during 2016. “A critical reason behind the strong inbound performance we have enjoyed from Japan over the past 12 months has been increased aviation capacity,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

Australia voted ‘Best for Driving Holidays’ by Singaporeans

Thousands of Travel Journal readers in Singapore, who participated in surveys during travel fairs in 2016, have voted Australia as ‘Best for Driving Holidays’. Travel Journal is a popular monthly tabloid in Singapore for travel planning. The award was presented to Brent Anderson, Tourism Australia’s Regional General Manager for South and South East Asia. In 2016 Australia welcomed 439,000 visitors from Singapore who spent $1.4 billion.

Matt Wright becomes a Friend of Australia

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright  has joined Tourism Australia's ambassador network, Friends of Australia, to help promote Australia as a travel destination. Matt Wright’s debut series Outback Wrangler aired globally on National Geographic in 2011. Season two was launched in November 2015 and was seen in over 90 countries. Outback Wrangler’s third season is currently in pre-production and will share new and exciting stories from the Australian Outback.

Australia in Italian fashion competition

The relationship between Italy and Australia was celebrated by students from the prestigious Polimoda Fashion School in Florence who showed their interpretation of Australia in a design competition this month. The competition was organised by the Australian Embassy in Italy together with Polimoda and The Woolmark Company. The lucky winner will embark on a four week exchange at the fashion department of University of Technology Sydney and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Tourism Australia supported the project nd will organise tourism experiences during the four week stay of the fashion student in Sydney.

New youth training module for Aussie Specialists

Tourism Australia has released a new special interest training module on youth experiences for the Aussie Specialist Program to educate frontline travel sellers on what makes Australia a must-see destination for the younger generation. The training module also provides a guide to creating inspiring itineraries with the latest key highlights, accommodation, local immersion activities and nightlife across the country. The online training module is available in English with a range of supporting fact sheets on each State and Territory plus the Working Holiday Maker Program.

Indonesian influencer profiles Sydney sights on YouTube

A YouTube video of iconic Sydney sights and activities including Bondi Beach, Taronga Zoo, Circular Quay as well as eating and shopping was trending on YouTube and has had over 800,000 views since it was published just one week ago. Indonesian influencer Arief Muhammad, who has more than 700,000 followers on YouTube, was hosted by Tourism Australia, Garuda Indonesia and Destination NSW as part of Indonesian media on a famil to Sydney earlier this month. Part two of Arief’s trip, visiting the Hunter Valley region, is expected soon and will showcase experiences in the region.

Aussie Specialists go camping in Malaysia

More than 60 Aussie Specialists from across Peninsular Malaysia, took part in an Aussie Specialist overnight camp in April to network, interact and learn from each other. Australia’s culture, food, nature and wildlife were brought to life for agents through fun and memorable challenges such as a rock painting session. Tourism Australia also conducted an Aussie Specialist website familiarisation and each State and Territory gave updates. The Aussie Specialist Program provides frontline travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia.

Restaurant Australia industry case study videos

Tourism Australia has produced a series of videos showcasing tourism businesses from around the country who are great examples of Restaurant Australia. The aim of the videos is to inspire more businesses to get involved in promoting Aussie cuisine as food and wine continues to become an ever more important aspect of the experience international visitors are looking for. View a highlights video or the full playlist of examples of creative tourism businesses around the country.

New ‘swim with cuttlefish’ experience

PureSA has released a new 'swim with the giant cuttlefish' snorkelling experience at Stony Point, located on the coastline of the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park in Whyalla. Just once per year, cuttlefish display an array of luminescent patterns and colours, which can be seen just metres from the shoreline as they congregate for their breeding season.

New digital experiences for Vivid Sydney

Those visiting Vivid Sydney this year can enhance their experience with an array of digital innovations, including exclusive Snapchat lenses. In another first, the festival is offering audio descriptions of key light installations. As in previous years, live streams of the light displays are also available on Facebook.

Dharwra Aboriginal Tours

A new Indigenous tour company, Thunderstone, is offering a range of guided tours from two to six hours around significant sites in the Canberra region. Highlights include Aboriginal interpretation of the landscape, bush foods, artefacts and their traditional uses. Locations include Mount Majura, Mount Taylor, Black Mountain, Brindabella Mountains and Namadgi National Park.

Barunga Festival, 9-11 June 2017

Now in its 32nd year, Barunga Festival is one of the most important and longest-running community festivals in regional Australia. Located near Katherine in the Northern Territory, the festival is a celebration of local indigenous culture through a program of music, sport, traditional arts and cultural activities. This year’s live music highlight include local favourites B2M and The Lonely Boys along with the well-known singer songwriter Missy Higgins.

India Travel Mission 2017

Seller applications are open until tomorrow, Thursday 1 June, for participation at the India Travel Mission 2017 in Pune from 16 – 19 August. ITM is an opportunity for the Australian tourism industry to establish business relationships with key qualified travel agencies and tour operators in India. The Mission includes pre-scheduled meetings between buyers and sellers, and opportunities to network at the official event functions.

Walkabout South East Asia 2017

Seller applications are open until Monday 5 June for participation at Walkabout South East Asia 2017 in Bali from 25 – 28 September. The event provides an opportunity for Australian tourism businesses to develop relationships with product planners and decision makers representing outbound travel from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It includes pre-scheduled meetings and opportunities to network at functions.

Conversations with Industry: Gold Coast and Brisbane

Tourism Australia is participating in Tourism and Events Queensland’s ‘Conversations with Industry’ events on the Gold Coast on Wednesday 14 June and in Brisbane on Thursday 15 June. The events, which are also held in partnership with Gold Coast Tourism and Brisbane Marketing, provide an opportunity to connect with representatives from each organisation to gain industry insights and discuss the key business areas of marketing, digital, experience development, events and international markets.

MasterCard’s Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017

MasterCard has released its Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017, highlighting China’s influence on Asia Pacific tourism in terms of market share of arrivals, nights and spend. China is Asia-Pacific’s — and the world’s — largest origin country for outbound tourists and contributed 55 million overnight international arrivals to the region in 2016. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel, visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Tourism Australia is recruiting for a Country Manager, Singapore and Indonesia to lead a dedicated team of marketing, PR and distribution experts.

SriLankan Airlines will start a new Colombo to Melbourne service from 29 October 2017, connecting with SriLankan Airlines' extensive network into India.

A public memorial service will be held for Tropical North Queensland tourism identity Charles Woodward at Rainforestation Nature Park on Friday 2 June.

Queensland tourism businesses are encouraged to submit applications for the 2017 Queensland Tourism Awards which will be hosted at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in Brisbane in November.

After 18 years’ service to Restaurant & Catering Australia, John Hart will stand down at CEO at the end of June this year.

The Tasmanian Government has launched stage two of the Tourism Tracer Dashboard, www.tourismtracer.com, a research tool to provide insight into visitors to the State and what they like.

Nominations for round two of Queensland's Young Tourism Leaders program are open until Tuesday 11 July.

Registration is open for the Tourism and Transport Forum's Outlook 2017 Conference and inaugural Talking Tourism Luncheon on Friday 23 June in Sydney.

Registration is open for the second annual NSW Regional Events Conference in Wagga Wagga from 14 - 16 June.

The Tasmanian Government and Tasmania's tourism industry have released their third T21 Visitor Economy Strategy progress report.

Tourism Tasmania will now hold its Tassie Specialist Conference and Talkabout Tasmania Roadshow on alternate years from 2017.

Nominations for the Tasmanian Tourism Awards are open until Thursday 1 June.

Nominations are open for the 2017 South Australian Tourism Awards until Monday 26 June with submissions due by Monday 14 August.

Tourism WA will establish an office on the eastern seaboard  for the first time since December 2010.

Registration is open for the fourth annual Victorian Tourism Conference to be held at the Flemington Racecourse on 24 - 25 July.

Nominations are open until 30 June for the 2017 RACV Victorian Tourism Awards .

Queensland's Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones joined representatives of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to launch the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Reconciliation Action Plan.