Australian tourism shines at national awards

Darwin rolled out a warm welcome for the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards last Friday, bringing together outstanding tourism businesses from around the country in a celebration of the quality and diversity of Australian tourism. The Hon Steven Ciobo MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, said the continued passion and commitment from the hard-working Australians honoured at the Awards was crucial to further growth and attracting more visitors to Australia. “2016 was a remarkable year for Australian tourism and, whilst these awards may focus on 26 individual category winners, the whole industry deserves a collective pat on the back for the record-breaking level of performance it has delivered,” said Minister Ciobo. John O’Sullivan, Managing Director Tourism Australia added that the impressive list of winners confirmed the diversity and depth of talent within Australian tourism. Find out more.

Updated international traveller snapshots

Tourism Australia has updated its international traveller snapshots with the agency’s latest consumer research and 2016 data from TripAdvisor. The snapshots provide one page insights to travellers from Tourism Australia’s target markets, including their profile, travel behaviour, perceptions of Australia and TripAdvisor facts.

North American travel industry leaders focus on the future

The fifth annual Australia Tourism Summit, hosted by Tourism Australia and supported by Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines, kicked off in LA this week with a day-long conference focused on the ‘Future of Travel’. The Summit, attended by 285 key industry and media, also included a PR panel discussion with key insights from CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg and the Australian states and territories. Following the summit, the Australia Marketplace held in conjunction with the state and territories attracted a record 111 Australian suppliers and 108 North American wholesalers and Premier Aussie Specialists. Find out more and view the Summit presentations.

Etihad campaign continues European rollout

Tourism Australia and Etihad Airways have rolled out a joint campaign in Italy offering flights Down Under starting from 899 EUR. The campaign, which is live until 19 March, includes ads on social media, paid search as well as display and video advertising on key web sites. The promotion is part of a larger cooperation with Etihad in the UK, France and Germany including extensions of campaigns with Tourism WA, Destination NSW and Visit Victoria.

Walkabout Japan 2017

Walkabout Japan 2017 was held in Odawara near Tokyo last week with 34 qualified Japanese travel agents and tour operators meeting with 39 Australian tourism businesses. Walkabout Japan is Tourism Australia’s premier trade event to engage with Japanese travel agencies in market. According to Tourism Australia’s consumer research for the Japan market, 45% of respondents said that travel agents (either by phone or in person) is their preferred source for booking a holiday to Australia.

New guide for submitting content to Australia.com

Tourism Australia has published a guide to submitting content, such as story ideas or travel itineraries, to its popular consumer web site Australia.com. The guide includes principles for creating content as well as story templates and examples. Australia.com is used as the central call-to-action for all of Tourism Australia’s co-operative campaigns globally. The site is available in 11 languages covering all of Tourism Australia’s target markets and on average receives 1.5m unique visitors each month.  

#50BestTalks, 1 – 3 April

To celebrate The World’s 50 Best Restaurants coming to Australia, superstars from the culinary world including Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana), Grant Achatz (Alinea), Gaggan Anand (Gaggan) and Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park) will join Australia’s Peter Gilmore (Quay) to take part in discussions on global gastronomy in Sydney and Melbourne between 1 – 3 April.

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe

The prestigious free public exhibition Sculpture by the Sea will be staged on Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia between 3 - 20 March, featuring artists from across Australia as well as China, Germany, Japan, Finland, New Zealand and the Czech Republic.

Parrtjima – A Festival in Light to illuminate the Territory in 2017

The second annual Parrtjima – A Festival in Light event will be held in Alice Springs from 22 September to 1 October 2017, featuring an expanded program that celebrates the Aboriginal art of Central Australia. The free public event is the first authentic Indigenous light festival of its kind and showcases the oldest continuous culture on earth through the newest technology, on a 300-million-year-old natural canvas.

The Darling at The Star named one of the best hotels in the world

The Darling has been awarded a prestigious Five-Star rating by the Forbes Travel Guide, making it the first and only hotel in Sydney to receive the accolade. The Darling is located at The Star Sydney and is a key feature of Sydney’s leading entertainment destination.

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. Less than 50 tickets remain for the conference. Download the agenda and register.

Industry briefing in Melbourne

Tourism Australia will host a free-of-charge industry briefing in Melbourne on Monday 6 March alongside the Victorian Tourism Industry Council’s 2017 Forum. The briefing will involve senior executives from Tourism Australia providing an update on current and future activity and sharing research and insights from key international markets.

Accessible tourism webinar

Tourism Australia is hosting a free webinar on accessible tourism on Friday 31 March at 3pm AEDST. The webinar will outline the opportunities for destinations and businesses to improve the quality of the visitor experience for disabled people. Speakers will be: Simon Darcy, Professor of Events, Sport and Tourism, UTS Business School; Chris Veitch, Accessible Tourism Consultant; and Jane Kelly, Marketing and Business Development Manager, Sandcastle Waterpark. Find out more and register. (Photo: Parks Victoria)

Best practice in digital marketing for travel brands

Expedia has outlined some digital travel marketing best practice examples to target, reach, and engage niche audiences. The article investigates how brands can best understand the large amount of information available about their desired audiences and how best to engage them. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel, visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Destination NSW has launched a four-month campaign, What I Love About Holidays in NSW, to inspire Australians to take more holidays in Regional NSW.

Professional services consultancy Deloitte has published its latest Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook providing insight and analysis of the trends and issues confronting the Australian tourism and hotel sectors.

The NT Minister for Tourism and Culture Lauren Moss has announced the re-appointment of Michael Bridge as Chairman of the Tourism NT Board and welcomed four local women to the Board, two of whom are Indigenous.

The South Australian Tourism Industry Council (SATIC) has announced a suite of business development programs being rolled out in 2017.

The South Australian Tourism Commission has released a video with Nick Jones, Director of Destination Development, about how the team’s key activities aim to grow the visitor economy in South Australia.

A marketing partnership between Tourism WA and STA Travel is off to a strong start with early results showing a 40 per cent increase in flight bookings to Perth, and a 20 per cent rise in WA hotel and other reservations by young UK travellers.

The Tourism WA team in New Zealand has launched a tactical campaign with AAT Kings to increase visitation and regional dispersal.