Adelaide plays host to largest aviation conference in the world

This week Tourism Australia partnered with the South Australian Tourism Commission and Adelaide Airport to host the World Routes 2019 aviation conference, which took place in Australia for the first time in the event’s 25 year history. The four-day conference, held in Adelaide, brought together approximately 200 airlines and 350 airports from around the world. Australia was represented by its largest ever World Routes delegation consisting of Federal, State and Territory, and Regional Tourism Organisations as well as airports under the ‘Team Australia’ umbrella. The event also featured a keynote address from Australia's Tourism Minister, Simon Birmingham, a conference program and over 10,000 face-to-face meetings.

Brisbane Airport wins World Routes Marketing Award

Brisbane Airport won the World Routes Marketing Award for the best airport in the 20-50 million passenger category, having secured new services from an impressive seven Asian airlines in the last two years.

Australia to host top global adventure travel summit

Tourism Australia promoted Australia’s soft adventure experiences at the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) Adventure Travel World Summit 2019 in Gothenburg, Sweden last week. At the Summit, it was announced that Australia will host the Adventure Travel World Summit 2020 from 6 to 9 October. The event will be delivered by the ATTA in partnership Tourism Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission. Tourism Australia will also host a dedicated Australia Marketplace Day. Click here to register your interest for 2020.

Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase

Business events corporate decision makers, incentive planners and trade media from Greater China are attending a three day showcase of Australia's destinations, products and experiences this week. The annual Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase, held from 24 to 26 September in Wuzhen near Shanghai, is hosted by Tourism Australia and will connect 39 Australian businesses with 80 key buyers in market. The event includes presentations on Australia’s destinations, products and experiences, one-on-one business appointments as well as networking events that will give guests an opportunity to sample Australian food and wine.

Cultural Attractions of Australia

Cultural Attractions of Australia has launched ‘Harnessing One of Australia’s Fastest-Growing Tourism Segments’, a powerful document that demonstrates the significance of cultural tourism as an exciting new frontier in Australia’s tourism marketing framework. International cultural visitors to Australia stay 25 per cent longer and spend 20 per cent more than other visitors.

Tourism Australia social media tips

In the fourth and final video in our social media education series, Nick Henderson and Novy Wong from our social media team answer questions from tourism operators. They cover a number of topics including current social trends, how to create great content on a budget as well as provide a number of practical tips. Watch the full video here.

IMEX America

The Business Events team hosted the Australia stand with 30 industry partners at IMEX America, held from the 10 to 12 September in Las Vegas. IMEX America is USA’s largest meetings industry trade show attracting international planners and suppliers from the conference, convention and corporate event industries. During the show, Tourism Australia hosted the launch of the Australia and New Zealand chapter of SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence), which was attended by SITE Global VIPs, members of the SITE ANZ Board and SITE members from around the world. “Being part of SITE gives us an opportunity to showcase to the world why there’s nothing like Australia for incentive events and we were pleased to host the launch reception of the new ANZ Chapter” said Penny Lion, Executive General Manager Events, Tourism Australia.

Spotlight on Australia and the Aussie Specialist Program at Travel Quest World

Tourism Australia met with 450 advisors from all over the United States at the annual Travel Quest World in Florida this month. The event is held by host agency Travel Quest for their advisors to deepen relationships and discover new products and services to offer their clients. US Aussie Specialist Ambassador, Amanda Kelly, assisted with the presentation by promoting the Aussie Specialist Program and received Travel Quest's Rising Star Award that evening.

PATA Awards

The first edition of the French PATA awards were held in Paris last week. A jury of 10 trade travel media and trade stakeholders selected their preferred nominee from a number of categories including destination, hotel group, tour operator, airline, cruise line and distribution network. Tourism Australia, represented by Article Onze, won the Best Destination Campaign award for the 2018 cooperative campaign with Etihad Airways.

AACB Staff Scholarship winner

Sandro Serio, Marketing Manager at Melbourne Convention Bureau has been awarded the prestigious Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) Staff Scholarship for 2019/20, co-sponsored by Tourism Australia and Qantas.  The award was accepted on Sandro’s behalf by Julia Swanson, Acting CEO Melbourne Convention Bureau (on the right). 

Monarto Zoo set to become largest Safari Park in Southern Hemisphere, SA

South Australia’s Monarto Zoo has announced a $40 million expansion to become Monarto Safari Park, the largest safari park outside of Africa. Complete with a first-of-its-kind luxury resort and glamping facilities, Monarto Safari Park will offer longer visits and a range of new and wild safari experiences in an area known as Wild Africa. Visitors will be escorted by open-sided vehicle tours through herds of roaming animals and have the opportunity to freely walk-through a lemur habitat. Only 45 minutes’ drive from the Adelaide city centre, Monarto Zoo will continue to operate as usual until the Monarto Safari Park launches in 2022. 

New innovation for aviation in Australia

Qantas has announced the launch of three ultra-long-haul research flights in support of their ground-breaking ‘Project Sunrise’ initiative. Through a series of testing, Qantas has been evaluating the decision to operate regular, non-stop commercial flights from the east coast of Australia (Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne) to London and New York. The three ultra-long-haul and fully carbon-offset research flights will be operating over a period of three months and will gather new data about inflight passenger and crew health and wellbeing. Qantas is on track to decide whether to place an order for ‘Project Sunrise’ by the end of 2019.

Save the date for Sculpture By the Sea Bondi 2019, NSW

Sculpture by the Sea Bondi is set to return to Sydney’s eastern beaches from 24 October to 10 November 2019, celebrating 23 years of beachside exhibitions. From Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach, the world’s largest free public sculpture expedition will delight coastal walkers with an immersive and creative atmosphere on the popular walking route. The spectacular walk will be transformed into a 2km long sculpture park over three weeks, featuring 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world. The full program for Sculpture by the Sea Bondi will be announced online soon.

Celebrity chef transforms Sydney’s Botanic House Restaurant, NSW

Sydney’s Botanic House restaurant has re-opened after a major transformation led by celebrity chef, Luke Nguyen. Nestled in the heart of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden, Botanic House offers a multi-level world-class dining experience inspired by native Australian ingredients. Guests can savour the authentic flavours of modern Asian cuisine upstairs at Botanic House restaurant or enjoy casual dining experiences downstairs at Farm Cove Eatery. Surrounded by stunning foliage and with glimpses of Sydney Harbour, Botanic House is the ultimate destination to eat, drink and celebrate.

Western Australia Industry Briefing

Tourism Australia is holding a free of charge industry briefing on Tuesday 8 October, alongside the upcoming Corroboree West event at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre. The briefing offers industry the opportunity to hear about Tourism Australia's strategic and creative direction as well as resources and support available for tourism businesses.

Australian Tourism Exchange 2020 (ATE20) applications open

Applications to attend the Australian Tourism Exchange 2020 (ATE20) are now open. Organised by Tourism Australia in partnership with Visit Victoria, ATE20 will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 10 to 14 May. The event will bring together Australian tourism businesses, tourism wholesalers and retailers from around the world through a combination of scheduled business appointments and networking events. It also provides international travel buyers with the opportunity to experience Australia’s tourism offering first-hand through pre and post-event familiarisations.

ATEC, together with Tourism WA and the Australian Hotels Association (WA), are presenting Japan Host – are you ready? Developed in partnership with Japan Yonshakai (the leading wholesalers of the Japan Travel Trade) the two hour interactive workshop will provide an overview of the Japanese inbound market and the opportunity it presents for the Western Australian tourism industry.

Vivid Sydney, the largest festival of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere, was named Australia’s Best Tourism Event, and also the country’s Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event at the national awards ceremony of the Australian Event Awards on 18 September 2019.

Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) has launched the 2019 Ungerboeck Young Professional Scholarship Program. The Ungerboeck Young Professional Scholarship program is open to employees of MEA members 30 years of age or under with less than three years full time experience in the meetings and events industry.

Tourism and Events Queensland, in partnership with three Regional Tourism Organisations, will launch a $300,000 campaign to encourage visitors to bushfire affected regions in the Southern Queensland Country, Sunshine Coast and Scenic Rim regions. Read more about the campaign here.