| | | | | | | |  | | TOURISM AUSTRALIA UPDATE | | As you may have seen, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Australia this week and it’s been great to hear the positive messages coming from both sides. Despite opening a year later than other markets, the latest ABS Overseas Arrivals data released last week showed that China is already our second largest visitor market for the month of April at 60 per cent recovery when compared to April 2019. This is up from 47 per cent in March. Tourism Australia continues to be active in the China market with its Come and Say G’day campaign and this week alone, we have campaign activity running with more than 40 partners ranging from airline, travel agents and online travel agent to coincide with 618 sales festival, to encourage more Chinese travellers to plan and book an Australian holiday. Read more about this below. Further international arrivals numbers released by the ABS show the number of travellers who arrived in April was at 85 per cent, compared to the same month in 2019. Whilst this is a drop in total visitation, this is not unusual for this time of year due to travel patterns to Australia and holiday timings. In April, the most international arrivals were from New Zealand followed by China, the USA, UK, and India. While some markets are still recovering, we are pleased to see several are continuing above pre-pandemic levels, including India and South Korea. I’ve really enjoyed being out and about connecting with our industry these past couple of weeks. Last week I attended the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Conference, which took place in Mandurah and I was so pleased to join delegates from across the tourism industry to discuss the current state of play and opportunities ahead for Australian tourism and WA. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending VTIC’s Choose Tourism Careers Expo '24, an initiative supported by Austrade and aimed at making tourism a career of choice for school and university leavers. It was great to see so many industry showcasing the variety and opportunity our industry provides. Finally, today I’m catching up with the TTNQ Team at the My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference – and have hopefully seen some of you there. Phillipa Harrison | |
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| | | Tourism Australia ACTIVITY |
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| |  | | Tourism Australia joins China’s second biggest sale period, 618 | | One year after launching the Come and Say G’day campaign in China, Tourism Australia continues to be active in the market with activity running during the 618 Sales festival. The 618 sales festival is China’s second biggest yearly sales period (very similar to Black Friday). The sale takes place on the fast-emerging Chinese social platform, Little Red Book, and with long standing online travel agent (OTA) partner, Ctrip (trip.com). Tourism Australia is teaming up with 40 key distribution partners to present the best travel deals to consumers and encourage more Chinese travellers to plan and book an Australian holiday. We have seen Chinese travellers return to our shores in growing numbers and hope to see the impact the 618 Sales festival has on arrivals from the key market in coming months. |
|  | | Tourism Australia extends warm a welcome to Surabaya at Jawa Pos Astindo World Expo 2024 | | Earlier this month, Tourism Australia joined the Jawa Pos Astindo World Expo 2024 in Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya. Tourism Australia was accompanied by participating key distribution partners AntaVaya Tour, Bayu Buana Travel Services, Bianglala Tour Travel, Celindo Tour, Dwidaya Tour, Felia Tour, Golden Rama Tours & Travel, Haryono Tour, Kapasan Express, Karmel Tour, Monas Tours & Travel and Sativa Travel. The participation at the event aimed to enhance destination awareness and drive conversion among avid travellers and eager consumers from Surabaya and East Java, by sharing product updates and promoting the latest travel packages available to Indonesian travellers. |
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| | |  | | June Hot List released | | Tourism Australia has released its latest travel 'Hot List' for June 2024, available to download now on our corporate website. The guide, which includes the latest news and tourism offerings across the country and is updated monthly. The 'Hot List' contains a wrap-up of new places to stay and experiences to enjoy around Australia. Check it out here. |
|  | | The Good, The Bad & The Rugby partnership | | To mark one-year until the eagerly awaited 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour heads to Australia, Tourism Australia has welcomed the world's biggest rugby podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby (GBR) to its shores. The popular show hosts, ex-England and British & Irish Lions star James Haskell, World Cup winner and former England captain, Mike Tindall, and broadcaster Alex Payne headed down under to take on a series of challenges that showcased the Aussie lifestyle. To watch what the GBR got up to while in Australia, click here. Access the podcast here. |
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| | |  | | Tourism Australia North America Wins ‘Destination Partner of the Year’ at Travel Leaders Network Conference | | At its 2024 EDGE conference, Travel Leaders Network (TLN) honored its top supplier partners with Power of the Partnership (POP) Awards, with Tourism Australia winning ‘Destination Partner of the Year’. TLN, part of the Internova Travel Group, is the largest consortia network in North America, representing 5,700 travel agency locations and over 40,000 travel advisor members. This year, more than 5,000 advisors voted in the ‘people’s choice award’. Tourism Australia is a long-standing partner of TLN, engaging across trade, marketing, and the Aussie Specialist Program, along with state partners Destination New South Wales, Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism Western Australia, and Visit Canberra. |
|  | | Tourism Australia Youth Sector ELITE Scholarship winner announced | | Tourism Australia, in conjunction with the Backpacker & Youth Tourism Advisory Panel (BYTAP) and the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), is proud to announce the winner of the 2024 youth-sector focused development scholarship. This inaugural scholarship is designed to increase distribution engagement as well as develop the capability of a future leader in the sector. Following competitive assessment of a strong field of candidates, the winner is announced as Chloe Williams, Marketing Coordinator at ULTIMATE Adventure Travel, based in Sydney. Chloe's journey with the company began in 2018, where she embarked as a Product Coordinator for their UltimateOz program. Since then, according to their General Manager, Steve Mitrevski, she's woven a narrative of growth, innovation, and leadership within the team. |
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| | | | | | | | | |  | | Africola X Fire Feast at Osborn House | | On Friday 21 June, for one night only, the legendary Duncan Welgemoed of Africola in Adelaide / Tarntanya is travelling to Osborn House to bring his South African braai skills and bold African flavours to Fire Feast. Fire Feast is a monthly event hosted by Osborn House in the Southern Highlands region which celebrates the age-old South American tradition of live open-fire cooking for an unforgettable experience. For Africola x Fire Feast, Duncan will be working alongside Osborn House’s chefs to deliver a menu that heroes both Argentinian and South African barbeque styles. Expect some of Fire Feast’s most loved dishes, from the infiernillo empanadas, to the infiernillo salt baked ocean trout. With Duncan taking the reins on others like wood fire smoked Rockaway Chicken which he’ll spike with peri peri as he does at Africola. Kicking off at 5pm, Africola x Fire Feast is $195pp for a generous feasting menu and a welcome glass of Rameau d’Or rosé. Find out more here. |
|  | | Bangarra Dance Theatre launces new campaign | | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performing arts company Bangarra Dance Theatre, renowned for its powerful storytelling through contemporary dance has launched its new campaign, ‘Where will we take you?’. This new initiative, directed by Chloe De Brito and produced by Collider, marks a transformative chapter for Bangarra as it enters a new artistic era under the direction of Artistic Director Frances Rings, and seeks to deepen its connection with audiences around the world. The campaign speaks directly to audiences who are eager to gain a deeper understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and contribute to the journey of reconciliation. It also aims to attract new and diverse audiences who may not yet be familiar with the company's work. |
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| | |  | | Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne / Narrm’s new dining experience | | Rockpool Bar and Grill Melbourne / Narrm has introduced the restaurant’s first degustation dinners, every Friday and Saturday night until 20 July. Executive Chef, Santiago Aristizabal, who has been a chef at Rockpool for 13 years, has designed a meticulously crafted five-course menu which focuses on the incredible Australian produce that Rockpool is known for. Each dish on the menu can also be accompanied by the optional wine pairings that have been handpicked by the sommelier team. The Southbank room becomes the stage for a symphony of flavours, where each course is a crescendo of taste and culinary innovation. |
|  | | Winter nights are for Illuminate Adelaide / Tarntanya | | Illuminate will return this winter from 4 to 21 July to warm Adelaide / Tarntanya with its spectacular light shows. Celebrating the intersection and innovation between art, light music, and technology across three full weekends, it features a dedicated program of major ticketed events, music performances and free installations taking over the Adelaide CBD. Highlights of the ticketed program include the dynamic flaming sculptures of Fire Gardens at Adelaide Botanic Garden, after-dark puppetry and animations in Universal Kingdom at Adelaide Zoo, Dutch pianist Joep Beving, interactive digital work Eden from Berlin, British electronic musician Max Cooper, Patch Theatre’s Superluminal, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and UK artist The Caretaker as part of Unsound Adelaide. |
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