Chris Hemsworth retraces Dundee commercial on Kangaroo Island

Tourism Australia’s global tourism ambassador Chris Hemsworth visited Kangaroo Island in South Australia this week, one of the locations in the recent Dundee Super Bowl ad. During the visit, Chris and his family visited the sea lions at Seal Bay Conservation Park, cuddled koalas at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park and went swimming with dolphins with Kangaroo Island Marine Adventures. During his first visit to South Australia, Chris also visited Jacob’s Creek in the Barossa where he toured the vineyards and barrel room, tasted wines directly from the barrel and blended his own wine. Chris shared his experiences in South Australia with personal photos to his 14 million social media followers on Instagram.

Countdown to #GC2018

To celebrate the 50-day countdown to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Tourism Australia this week published a list of free things to do to enjoy the magic of the Games beyond the sporting competition. #SHARETHEDREAM #GC2018

Queensland's Gold Coast to host Corroboree Asia 2018

The Gold Coast will host Corroboree Asia 2018 which brings together more than 100 Australian tourism operators to meet with around 300 qualified Aussie Specialist agents from priority Asian markets, including Greater China, Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Hosted in partnership with Gold Coast Tourism and Tourism and Events Queensland, the event will take place from 26 to 31 August 2018 and will be followed by five-day familiarisation trips around the country. Last October the Gold Coast hosted the inaugural Corroboree West 2017.

Lord Howe Island featured in UK’s Vanity Fair on Travel

Lord Howe Island has made the cover of the annual UK Vanity Fair on Travel magazine, accompanied by a six-page feature detailing the World Heritage listed paradise. The stand-out coverage is the result of a media visit supported by Tourism Australia as part of its international media hosting program. Vanity Fair on Travel is on sale alongside the Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, which has a circulation of over 70,000 readers and garners huge interest every year.

Outback Stargazing inspires Singaporeans

Australia’s online presence in Singapore was given a lift this month as Tourism Australia boosted its investment in paid social media, search and online advertising as part of its ongoing ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ campaign. The offers page on the Singapore edition of Australia.com was also updated with a new ‘filtered search’ option allowing visitors to select packages based on location or experiences. A recent standout in Singapore has been the response to a Facebook and Instagram post and Australia.com article about Outback Stargazing experiences.

Melbourne’s fashion scene showcased in Malaysia

Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria partnered with luxury lifestyle publication ‘I M First Class’ to present an exclusive Melbourne Fashion Showcase to the 400 guests at the prestigious CHT Awards 2018 in Kuala Lumpur last week. The showcase, featuring designs curated by stylist Emily Ward and millinery by Serena Lindeman, was also used to launch Holiday Tours and Travel’s special packages for the Melbourne Cup Carnival 2018 targeting high value Malaysian travellers. Guests at the awards show had a firsthand look at Melbourne’s thriving fashion scene from the upcoming Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival to the festive Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Australia wins ‘Favorite Travel Destination’ in China

Australia won ‘My Favorite Travel Destination 2017’ at the 2017 Travel + Leisure China awards this month. Andrew Hogg, Tourism Australia’s Regional General Manager for North Asia, accepted the award and joined a panel discussion on China’s high-value travellers. Now in its 11 year the awards are chosen by readers, journalists and professional panels. China is Australia’s highest value inbound market currently worth over $10 billion annually. Find out more about the China market.

Mardi Gras 40th Anniversary, 16 February – 4 March

The biggest LGBTQI celebration in the Southern Hemisphere celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with its biggest program of events yet. Highlights include a sparkling procession of over 200 floats for the Official Parade on 3 March, followed by a headline performance by Cher at the Official 2018 Mardi Gras Party.

How to celebrate Chinese New Year in Australia

From 16 February, Australians will mark Chinese New Year (also known as the Lunar New Year) with colourful events ranging from a day at the Brisbane races to karaoke on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Find out more on Australia.com.

Emergence Creative Festival, 21 – 24 March

Margaret River, a destination known globally for its wine and waves, is also developing a reputation as a creative hub thanks to the innovators and entrepreneurs that call it home. In celebration of the region’s creativity, professional and emerging creatives from Australia and around the world in the fields of music, film, photography, advertising, digital and the visual arts will gather for three days of inspiring keynotes, hands-on workshops, out-of-the-box collaborations and satellite events.

Abode Murrumbateman welcomes first guests

Abode Murrumbateman, a 50-room property situated 30 minutes from Canberra’s CBD, has opened its doors to its first guests. The hotel features flexible foyer spaces, communal kitchen facilities, a guest lounge and a pantry stocked with a selection of local wine and produce.

Destination Australia Conference 2018

Registration opened today for the fourth annual Destination Australia Conference to be held in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March. Tailor-made for Australian tourism businesses serious about attracting high yield international travellers, a line-up of experts from around the world will tackle today’s most important tourism marketing questions.

China-Australia Year of Tourism survey

The China-Australia Year of Tourism in 2017 celebrated the close relationship between the two countries and recognised the importance of the China market for Australia’s tourism industry. Now that the celebrations have come to an end the Australian Government is seeking feedback from Australian industry about the year. There are 15 questions and the survey takes about five minutes to complete.

$103 million NT tourism stimulus package

The NT Government has announced a $103 million stimulus package to boost the Territory’s tourism industry. The Turbocharging Tourism Action Plan will start immediately and to be rolled out over two financial years. The program will deliver more tourism marketing, new tourism infrastructure and funding for festivals and events. ATEC NT Branch Chairman, Wayne Thompson, said that the investment would connect well with Tourism Australia’s recent ‘Crocodile Dundee’ marketing push which will elevate the brand and the destination appeal of the Northern Territory. (Photo: Kakadu Cultural Tours).

Industry briefings in WA and VIC

Tourism Australia is holding free of charge industry briefings on Wednesday 21 February in Margaret River, Thursday 22 February in Perth and Wednesday 28 February in Melbourne alongside VTIC’s Visitor Economy Forum. The briefings offer industry the opportunity to hear about Tourism Australia's strategic and creative direction for attracting international visitors to Australia as well as resources and support available for tourism businesses.

Tourism Australia’s events system upgrade

Tourism Australia has upgraded its industry events systems to improve information about events and the registration process. As part of the upgrade the existing site, tradeevents.australia.com, will shut down permanently on 28 February and all event information will now be available at tourism.australia.com/events. Anyone wanting to extract any historical data such as past event registrations, appointment schedules, delegate directories or other event information, should login to tradeevents.australia.com and download the required reports or documents by the end of February.

Tourism Research Australia has published the 2016–17 state of the industry report.

Tourism and Events Queensland has launched a $1.6 million campaign with strategic partners including Qantas, Air Canada and Expedia to capitalise on Tourism Australia's Crocodile Dundee inspired campaign in the US.

Tourism Tasmania has launched its first television campaign in the United Kingdom to increase awareness of Tasmania as a premium travel destination.

Tickets are on sale for the 2017 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards to be held in Perth on Friday 23 February at the newly opened Optus Stadium.

Registration is open for the 2018 WYSE Exchange Australia Youth Tourism Conference to be held on Wednesday 9 May at the Ovolo Woolloomooloo Hotel in Sydney.

Applications are open until Friday 2 March for the International Wine Tourism Competitive Grants program aimed at providing support for tourism marketing and events, infrastructure and innovative products or services targeted at attracting international wine tourists.

Registration is open for the World Tourism Forum's Talent Boost event which focuses on how to attract and retain young professionals within the industry, hosted in cooperation with the University of Brisbane on Friday 18 May in Brisbane.

Registration is open for the Tourism and Transport Forum’s Outlook Tourism Industry and Policy Conference to be held in Sydney on Thursday 17 May.

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

Applications are open until Thursday 29 March for the Australia-India Council 2018 Grant Program.

Registration is open for the Destination NSW 2018 UK and Europe Roadshow taking place from 6 to 15 May.

Adelaide Oval will host the NRL Holden State of Origin in 2020.