Aussie product showcasedat Australian TourismExchangeAustralia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. Steven Ciobo MP and South Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. David Ridgway MP, joined delegates at the Australian Tourism Exchange 2018 (ATE18) in Adelaide this week. Australia’s largest travel and tourism business-to-business event is jointly hosted this year by Tourism Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission and has attracted over 2,200 delegates from across the country and more than 30 international tourism markets. “This year’s ATE has brought over 650 international tourism buyers to Australia to meet with 540 Australian tourism products and experiences, helping to promote tourism as a pillar of the nation’s economy,” Minister Ciobo said.

18 April 2018

More Chinese tourists toAustraliaChina has overtaken New Zealand to becomeAustralia's largest inbound visitor market for thefirst time. Australian Bureau of Statistics datashows there were 1.39 million Chinese visitors inthe year ending February 2018, an increase of13.2 per cent. Find out more and view TourismAustralia's interactive arrivals dashboard.

Hong Kong consumers invited to SavourAustralia

Australia’s premium produce is being showcased inHong Kong through a new “Savour Australia” campaignlaunched this month by Tourism Australia and Austradetogether with Hong Kong’s leading catering groupMaxim’s Chinese Cuisine and Hang Seng Bank. Thepromotion kicked off with a media lunch and a VIP wineevening followed by print and social media advertising. Aprestige dining offer is also available to Hang SengBank’s 2.5 million cardholders. In 2017, Hong Kong wasAustralia’s 10th largest inbound market for visitor arrivalsand total spend and 11th largest for visitor nights.

Dundee-inspired training for AussieSpecialist in the US

Aussie Specialist travel agents in Chicago, New York,San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orange County wereupdated on Australia’s nature and wildlife, aquatic andcoastal experiences and food and wine in a seriesof training events last month. The training broughtDundee campaign messages to life for the agents andphoto booths allowed the agents to channel their innerCrocodile Dundee and share campaign images with theirnetworks. The Aussie Specialist Program is TourismAustralia’s global online training program, shared by alleight state and territory tourism partners, to providefrontline travel sellers from around the globe with theknowledge and skills to best sell Australia. There arecurrently 2,300 qualified Aussie Specialists in the US.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA NEWS

AUSTRALIAN STORIES

Yalumba joins Ultimate WineryExperiences of Australia

Iconic South Australian winery Yalumba has joined theUltimate Winery Experiences of Australia collection.Yalumba has an enduring commitment to thequintessential Australian wine, the Cabernet Sauvignonand Shiraz blend, crafting its interpretation of the blendsince the 1880s. Its wines - The Signature and TheCaley – are both acknowledged as internationalbenchmarks for the style.

Veriu Central launches in Surry Hills

Following the opening of Veriu Broadway in June 2017,Veriu Hotels & Suites has launched the art deco inspiredheritage hotel Veriu Central in Sydney’s popular dininghot spot Surry Hills. The new 112-room hotel is a $15million conversion of heritage listed Wentworth House,retaining the original character of the building throughthe décor and design features, including a 1920sthemed bar, The Drawing Room. www.veriu.com.au/central

Green turtles hatch on Fitzroy Island

More than 700 tiny green sea turtles have hatchedon Fitzroy Island and swum to freedom on the GreatBarrier Reef in Tropical North Queensland. The turtleeggs were laid earlier this year by a green turtle calledYasi who is believed to be up to 70 years old. Turtles

Paddlesteamer Emmylou receivesupgrade and new tours

Australia’s iconic paddlesteamer Emmylou will unveilnew deluxe cabins with private en suites and one doublesize suite with river views from September 2018. Newthree and four-night Heritage Discovery and Explorer

can be seen in the wild at Fitzroy Island with snorkellerslikely to see green sea turtles and the occasionalhawksbill turtle in Welcome Bay and at Nudey Beach.The Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on the island offersdaily tours where guests can learn about turtles on theGreat Barrier Reef and meet eight-year-old green seaturtle Jet who was rescued off Fitzroy Island in July2017.

cruises will also be introduced, taking guests over 160km along the upper and lower Murray River fromEchuca. The cruise experience includes visits to Worldheritage sites, riverside campfires, winery lunches andvisiting Perricoota Station.

 

Peninsula Hot Springs in Victoria unveilsexpansion

The award-winning wellness destination Peninsula HotSprings has launched plans for a new open-airamphitheatre set to open in July 2018. The $10 millionexpansion includes nine new pools, an outdoor stage,fire and ice experience, food bowl, wellness, educationand activity centre and new dining precinct. This projectis the business’ largest expansion to date after 12 yearsof operation.

Sydney to welcome The CollectionistHotel

Sydney will soon be home to The Collectionist Hotel, acustom design property where no two rooms are thesame. Seven designers plus 13 artists werecommissioned to create the 39 uniquely designedrooms, which are housed within a former warehousespace in the inner west suburb of Camperdown.Opening in early May 2018, guests will be invited toperuse available rooms to make their room selectionbased on the style, colour, texture and design.

INDUSTRY NEWS AND EVENTS

Corroboree Asia 2018

Seller applications are open until Friday 27 Aprilfor Corroboree Asia 2018 to be held on the Gold Coastfrom 26 to 31 August. Corroboree Asia combines atraining workshop and familiarisation visits for qualifiedAussie Specialist Agents from China, Hong Kong,Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia andSingapore. These agents are a mix of frontline,wholesale and online agents who actively sell Australiaas a preferred long-haul destination to Asian travellers.

Destination Australia Conference 2018

Tourism Australia has published recordings ofpresentations from the Destination Australia Conferenceheld in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March. Over 350tourism industry gathered for the conference to hearfrom an incredible line up of speakers including DanGregory, Adam Ferrier and Carolyn Creswell. Industryare also invited to register interest for next year’sconference to be held on Thursday 14 March 2019 inBrisbane.

Tourism Australia is currently recruiting for a new Regional General Manager, UK.

Chinese carrier Donghai Airlines will start a directservice twice a week between Shenzhen andDarwin from Wednesday 30 May.

John Warn has been appointed as the new Chair ofDestination NSW and Sally Loane and GeorgeSouris will also join as members of the board.Russell Balding AO, David Baffsky AO andMargaret Jack have been reappointed for a furtherfour years.

Virgin Australia has announced changes to itsTrans-Tasman services including two new routes

Registration is open for the 2018 SATIC TourismConference on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30May in Adelaide.

Entries for the MyTravelResearch.com ToiletTourism Awards are open until Sunday 1 May.

Applications are open until Friday 11 May forATEC's 2018 Emerging Leaders of InboundTourism Excellence (ELITE) program.

Registration is open for the City of Perth’s 2018Perth Tourism Industry Exchange on Thursday 24May at the Perth Arena.

Applications are open until 30 June for one-off support funding of up to $5,000 under the Northern

NEWS IN BRIEF

and increased frequency into key markets, effectivefrom 28 October.

Richard Sellers, current Director General of theDepartment of Transport, will temporarily act asTourism WA CEO.

Andrew McEvoy, former MD Tourism Australia, hasbeen appointed as the new Chair for Great Walksof Australia.

The NSW Government has committed a further$300,000 to attract and create more businessevents across the State as part of its RegionalConferencing Development Grants Program.

Nominations are open for tourism awards in NewSouth Wales, South Australia, Queensland,Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and theAustralian Capital Territory.

Applications are open until Wednesday 30 May for the Queensland Destination Events Program.

Registration is open for Destination Food, Australia's first culinary tourism conference to be held at the Museum of Sydney on Monday 21 May.

Tourism Whitsundays is hosting workshops with 21Whitsunday operators in Brisbane on Tuesday 15May, Melbourne on Wednesday 16 May andSydney on Thursday 17 May.

Expressions of interests are being sought frompotential delegates, speakers, exhibitors andsponsors for the Australian Indigenous TourismConference to be held from Tuesday 30 October toFriday 2 November in Lorne, Victoria.

Territory Government's China Ready Program.

Destination Melbourne is holding an accessibletourism masterclass on Tuesday 1 May.

Applications are open until Monday 30 April for the NT Government’s $3 million Visitor Experience Enhancement Program, part of the Turbocharging Tourism stimulus package.

Registration is open for the 2018 WYSE ExchangeAustralia Youth Tourism Conference to be held onWednesday 9 May at the Ovolo WoolloomoolooHotel in Sydney.

Registration is open for the Tourism and TransportForum’s Outlook Tourism Industry and PolicyConference to be held in Sydney on Thursday 17May.

Registration is open for the Backpacker andAdventure Tourism Industry Forum on Wednesday2 May in Byron Bay.

Applications are open until Friday 6 Julyfor Tourism Australia’s Advance Program toincrease international visitation to confirmedbusiness events being held in Australia.

As part of a partnership to attract foreign directinvestment in tourism product, Tourism Australiaand Austrade have produced a case study on HongKong’s Ovolo Group investment of more than $330million in Australia since 2012.

The NSW Government has announced a $27million funding boost for Kosciuszko National Parkto help create one of Australia’s best multi-daywalking tracks.

tourism.australia.com

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us

This email was sent to aredmond@tourism.australia.com. To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list.

Unsubscribe or manage subscriptions

Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.