Hong Kong ‘Sisterhood Travelling Gang’ experience Australia

Six top Chinese artists led by Hong Kong celebrity Myolie Wu have filmed at 10 episode travelogue showcasing the diversity of Australia for audiences back home in Hong Kong. The Sisterhood Traveling Gang filmed five episodes in Victoria and five in the Northern Territory taking in a variety of experiences focusing on Australia’s food and wine, nature and wildlife as well as Aboriginal culture. The shows, which began airing on Monday 18 September, were supported by Tourism Australia, Visit Victoria and Tourism NT. Hong Kong was Australia’s 10th largest inbound market based on visitor arrivals and expenditure in the year to June 2017. Visitor arrivals and expenditure performance remains solid, growing at 10 per cent.

Youth campaign webinar and stats

Tourism Australia will host a free, 30 minute webinar on Monday 9 October at 4pm to update industry on its new youth-focused campaign which will launch internationally the week before. Tourism Australia has also published infographics on the size and value of the general youth and Working Holiday Maker markets.

2017/18 campaign kicks off in the US with The Signature Network

Tourism Australia was a major sponsor of The Signature Network’s Owners Meeting in Phoenix this month, launching upcoming agent and consumer facing activities for 2017/18. The marketing plan runs through to June 2018 and builds on the success of the previous 12 months which saw revenue on bookings to Australia across The Signature Network grow by 22 per cent and the number of qualified Aussie Specialist agents increase 93 per cent. The Signature Travel Network currently has 207 member-agencies in North America representing 6,000 travel advisors and US$7 billion in annual sales. For more details on Tourism Australia’s partnership with The Signature Network contact Sarah Postler.

Key Canadian Aussie Specialist partners bowled over

Tourism Australia supported a friendly cricket match last week at the prestigious Toronto Cricket Club for Goway Travel and Air New Zealand, two key Aussie Specialist partners for the Canadian market. Goway Travel is North America's leading travel provider to Australia and the South Pacific and Air New Zealand offers flights from Vancouver to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast via Auckland. The Aussie Specialist Program is designed to provide frontline travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia. For the year to June 2017 there was a 51% increase in the number of qualified Aussie Specialist agents in Canada.

Tourism Australia in ‘top 50’ at prestigious innovation awards

Tourism Australia has been ranked as one of Australia’s top 50 ‘Most Innovative Companies’ by the Australian Financial Review at an awards ceremony last night. Now in its sixth year the AFR's list ranks the most innovative organisations in Australia and New Zealand, and is the only national, cross-industry list of its kind. Tourism Australia has shown leadership and innovation in a number of fields including most recently the use of Virtual Reality and 360 videos in its global marketing campaign.

Commonwealth Games Countdown

The Opening Ceremony of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games is now less than 200 days away with the organising committee marking the milestone over the weekend by announcing that the Queen’s Baton will arrive in Australia on Christmas Eve. Its first stop in Australia will be Brisbane before embarking on a nation-wide tour.

Maya Wiru fine dining

Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has announced the launch of an exclusive new fine dining experience, Mayu Wiru, which will commence nightly at Ayers Rock Resort from 22 October 2017. The experience, available to just 16 guests each night, includes canapes and champagne on a private lookout at Sails in the Desert, a four-course meal, and exclusive access to the Field of Light.

Canberra in full bloom with Floriade

Australia’s biggest festival of spring, Floriade, is now open. The month-long festival held in Canberra, celebrating its 30th anniversary, has extended its opening hours this year to enable more visitors to enjoy this colourful event which features more than a million flowers in full bloom.

Cairns Aquarium opens

Australia's Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister, The Hon. Steven Ciobo MP, officially launched the new $54 million Cairns Aquarium and Reef Research Centre this week. As well as being the first aquarium built in Australia for 18 years, the 7,800-square metre, three-level Cairns Aquarium concentrates on showcasing the bio-diversity of the North Queensland’s rainforest and marine life.

Perth Pearl Harvest

Willie Creek Pearls has brought their Broome Pearl Farm experience to Perth. The award-winning company has introduced Live Pearl Harvest tours at their new Elizabeth Quay premises in a purpose-built harvest area overlooking the water.

World’s first sand hostel

Gold Coast Tourism has teamed up with Hostelworld to create the world’s first Sand Hostel on the Gold Coast foreshore. Located on Kurrawa Terrace, the Sand Hostel is open from 20 - 22 September and will offer two exclusive accommodation spaces for guests - an eight-bed dorm and one private double room. Those not staying at the hostel can still visit, with a range of activities taking place.

Tourism growth continues as spending exceeds $103 billion

Australian tourists spent a record $62.6 billion holidaying at home for the year ending June 2017, up seven per cent on the previous year. The new record is revealed in the National Visitor Survey (NVS), which is released today. It comes two weeks after the International Visitor Survey (IVS) showed international tourists spend a record $40.6 billion over the same period. Combined total spending by overnight tourists has reached a new record of $103.2 billion. The NVS and IVS are produced by Tourism Research Australia. Find out more.

Brisbane secures first flights from China’s capital

Brisbane has secured its first direct flights from the Chinese capital with Air China to fly four times a week from Beijing, injecting more than $191 million into the Queensland economy. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the flights would bring nearly 170,000 passengers to Queensland over the next four years. Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. Steven Ciobo MP, said it was great to see the new flights announced during China-Australia Year of Tourism. “China remains Australia’s most valuable tourism market with visitors spending almost $10 billion across Australian in the last year,” Mr Ciobo said. Find out more.

Asia Pacific tipped to be the largest travel market by 2020

By 2020 the Asia Pacific region is predicted to be the largest travel market globally representing over 40 per cent of total travel demand by 2020 according to Expedia and Phocuswright's 2017 digital travel report. The report predicts that much of Asia Pacific’s online travel growth will be led by mobile bookings, particularly in China. China is already the world's second-largest travel market and will become the Asia Pacific's most highly penetrated online market this year. 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 China, based in Shanghai.

Final registration is open for the Modern Travel Media Summit in Sydney this Friday, 22 September.

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

Tickets are on sale for the 2017 South Australian Tourism Awards Gala Dinner on Friday 10 November at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Registration is open for the Youth & Backpacker Travel Week Australia 2017 on Queensland's Gold Coast from Monday 6 November to Friday 10 November.

Applications are open until 1 October for round one funding the NSW 2018 Incubator Event Fund open to organisers of new or second-year events in rural and regional NSW which are planned for January to June 2018.

Registration is open for the Australian Regional Tourism Network's (ARTN) annual Australian Regional Tourism Convention to be held from 23 – 26 October at QT Canberra.

South Australia has become the first state in Australia to establish a permanent presence in France.

Brett Godfrey has been appointed the new chair of Tourism and Events Queensland's board.

Tourism Australia was awarded Best Achievement in Marketing, Communication or Sponsorship for work on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants at the Australian Event Awards.

Tourism WA has undertaken research to better understand visitor expectations and experiences in Western Australia.

Last Saturday, 16 September, marked 200 days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on 4 April 2018.

More than 50 South Australian wineries will share in $1.225 million in funding, to help them upgrade and diversify their cellar doors to provide visitors with a world class experience.