Non-stop London-Perth flight soars into history books

The first ever non-stop flight between Australia and the UK soared into history this week marking a new era for tourism Down Under. The new Qantas Dreamliner flight will allow British visitors to travel to Australia in around 17 hours, three to five hours less than it does currently when transiting via the Middle East or Asia. Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, joined the inaugural flight this week and is currently visiting the UK to promote tourism and advance Australia’s trade agenda in the UK. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, who was one of the passengers on the inaugural flight, described it as a major milestone for Australia as well as global aviation.

Staycations on the rise

An increase in overnight trips by Australians has seen spending by domestic tourists increase six percent to $64.5 billion in 2017 according to the National Visitor Survey released today. Combined with international visitation, total tourism spending has reached almost $106 billion, up six per cent on the previous year.

Guide Vert Michelin launches its first Australia destination guide

One of the most popular series of French language guide books, Le Guide Vert Michelin (The Green Guide), has released its first destination guide about Australia. The Australian Embassy in Paris together with Tourism Australia and Michelin hosted an event for media, airline and trade partners to celebrate the launch. Some content from the book will also feature on the Michelin Voyage website which boasts over 600,000 visitors per month. In 2017, France was Australia’s 15th largest inbound market for visitor arrivals, 14th largest market for total visitor spend, 12th largest market for visitor nights and eighth for regional dispersal. Find out more.

Tourism Australia wins sixth consecutive TTG China Travel Award

Tourism Australia was named the best overseas tourism board in China promoting business travel and meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions at the 11th Annual TTG China Travel Awards in Shanghai last week. In 2017 Australia attracted a number of large Chinese groups including more than 8,000 Amway China delegates visiting Sydney in January, over 3,500 delegates from Perfect China visiting Adelaide, Melbourne, and Cairns in June and over 5,000 delegates for the International Dragon Awards in Melbourne in August. This year Infinitus China will bring 7,000 delegates to the Gold Coast in May and over 5,500 delegates from Jeunesse will visit Sydney during the Vivid Festival.

European Product Workshop builds new industry relationships

Tourism Australia and Tourism New Zealand co-hosted a European Product Workshop last week in London for more than 60 buyers and sellers. The workshop is exclusively for tourism businesses who are new to the UK/Europe market and therefore have limited presence in UK/European operator brochures. The delegates from Australia and New Zealand attended a UK/Europe market briefing to assist with product development as well as holding appointments with product managers from key wholesalers and tour operators who actively sell both destinations.

Australia on the list of greatest international golf courses

Thirteen Australian golf courses are featured in the Golf Digest’s latest list of the greatest international golf courses, a combination of the influential publication’s combined ‘America's 100 Greatest’ and ‘World 100’ lists. Royal Melbourne West (pictured) was the highest ranked Australian course on the list, coming in at number five. Ten of the courses named are members of Great Golf Courses of Australia, a collaborative partnership between Australia’s golf courses, Tourism Australia and State tourism boards. According to the Australian Golf Industry Council, in 2016-17 golf tourism contributed $477 million to the Australian economy.

Byron Bay YHA opens with artistic flourish

The redeveloped Byron Bay YHA in NSW is now open following a multi-million dollar makeover that has doubled its capacity and transformed the property into a luxe ‘flash-packers’. The property boasts a strong design focus including three murals by renowned Australian artists including local Byron artist Robert Moore and popular Sydney street artist Mulga.

Ovolo Woolloomooloo in Sydney embraces vegan dining

Newly opened Alibi Bar + Kitchen in Sydney’s Ovolo Wooloomoolo is embracing the vegan dining and healthy lifestyle trends with a 100% plant-based dining menu. The unique after-dark dining option is the first Australian venture by renowned US chef, restaurateur and global plant-based dining pioneer, Matthew Kenney.

Lady Elliot Island Eco-Resort introduces glamping tents

Two glamping tents have been added to the accommodation offering at Lady Elliot Island Eco-Resort. The glamping tents are ideal for couples and accommodate up to two people with a private bathroom and secluded balcony. Built by Eco Structures Australia, the glamping tents are designed to work in harmony with the surrounding environment and are environmentally sustainable.

Sydney’s Paramount House Hotel gears up for launch

Located in the former headquarters of Paramount Picture Studios in Surry Hills, the 29-room Paramount House Hotel is set to open its doors on 1 April. The inner-city boutique hotel includes a new restaurant by the team at Ester named Poly, a rooftop health club and outdoor garden café also scheduled to open this year.

Corroboree Asia 2018

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

Destination Australia Conference 2018

Tourism Australia has published recordings of presentations from the Destination Australia Conference held in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March. Over 350 tourism industry gathered for the conference to hear from an incredible line up of speakers including Dan Gregory, Adam Ferrier and Carolyn Creswell. Industry are also invited to register interest for next year’s conference to be held on Thursday 14 March 2019 in Brisbane.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is granting a conditional re-authorisation to the alliance between Qantas and Emirates for a further five years.

Tourism Western Australia and STA Travel have launched a co-operative marketing agreement targeting the youth market in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Applications are open for ATEC's 2018 Emerging Leaders of Inbound Tourism Excellence (ELITE) program.

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

Applications are open until 30 June for one-off support funding of up to $5,000 under the Northern Territory Government's China Ready Program.

Destination Melbourne is holding an accessible tourism 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.

Nominations are open for the 2018 NSW Regional Tourism Awards and the 2018 NSW Tourism Awards as well as and the 2018 South Australian Tourism Awards and the Queensland Tourism Awards .

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.

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.

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

Registration is open for the Backpacker and Adventure Tourism Industry Forum on Wednesday 2 May in Byron Bay.