Australia’s tourism opportunity on show to international investors

Tourism Australia is hosting a VIP investor luncheon for global investors and Australian industry attending the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong today. Tourism Australia’s Chairman, Bob East and Wayne Bunz, National Director of CBRE Hotels Asia Pacific, will present on Australia’s inbound tourism performance and developments in the hotel landscape. To align with the timing of the conference, Tourism Australia has launched a suite of collateral highlighting the Australian tourism investment opportunity. These include updates of the ‘Australian Tourism: Open for Investment’ flagship brochure; hotel supply maps for Sydney and Melbourne; ‘New Hotels, Resorts and Lodges in Australia;’ ‘Tourism Investment in Regional Australia’ regional strategy; and unique value propositions for eight iconic leisure destinations across Australia’s state and territories.

Latest visitor arrivals

Australian welcomed 741,700 international visitors for the month of August 2018, up 5.5 per cent from August 2017. For the year ending August 2018 total international arrivals reached 9.1 million, up 5.5 per cent representing an additional 480,000 visitors compared to similar previous period.

Aussie Specialist training sessions kick off in Shanghai

Tourism Australia hosted the first of a series of Aussie Specialist training events last week at a dedicated training space in its new Shanghai office. The training session updated 32 agents on Australian destinations as well as a recap of the recent Corroboree Asia event held on the Gold Coast. The Aussie Specialist Program is designed to provide frontline travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia. To date, Tourism Australia has trained over 30,000 agents in China over the past three years.

Uluru featured on banner at Australian Embassy in Paris

A new banner featuring Uluru has gone up on the wall of the Australian Embassy in Paris giving Parisians and international visitors the opportunity to admire the Australian landmark next to the iconic Eiffel Tower. The high-profile banner was selected to appeal to key drivers for French travellers who choose a destination based on history and heritage as well as world-class nature. 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.

Crown Group launches luxury SKYE Suites serviced apartments in Sydney

SKYE Suites Sydney will open this week as Sydney’s first boutique serviced apartments in the CBD. Offering both short-term and long-term stays, the multi-residential and 5-star hotel apartment rooms are fitted with luxurious facilities to enhance the modern inner-city lifestyle. The launch completes the first phase of the Arc project by Crown Group with the remaining residential suites, rooftop and retail precinct set to conclude in November 2018.

Brisbane welcomes new urban resort with the launch of Calile Hotel

The TFE Hotel Collection has introduced Brisbane’s newest urban resort, The Calile Hotel. The 175-room property features nine suites including two premier suites furnished with contemporary style designs and private balconies. A lobby bar and a flagship Greek restaurant opens to an outdoor pool terrace where guests can dine al fresco in one of the poolside cabanas. Neighbouring the popular dining and retail precinct Ada Lane, the prime location enables Calile Hotel guests to conveniently enjoy the unique urban lifestyle of Brisbane’s CBD.

Sydney’s Little Albion Guest House joins the Crystalbrook Collection

One of Australia’s newest boutique hotels, Little Albion in Sydney’s Surry Hills will join the expanding hospitality and innovative group, Crystalbrook Collection Hotels and Resorts. The unique and distinct character of Little Albion will complement the existing Crystalbrook portfolio, where the 1903 former school convent was transformed into a 35-room modern guest house designed with 1920’s and 1970’s interior styles. Little Albion is expected to commence trading under Crystalbrook Collection in early December 2018.

PS Emmylou relaunches as luxurious boutique inland river cruise, Victoria

The world’s only wood-fire cruising paddlesteamer, PS Emmylou, will relaunch this month following a specially designed luxury upgrade and fit out. Passengers can now see some of Australia’s most pristine and intact ecological forests featuring locations of geographical, historical and cultural significance along the Murray River. Guests of the restored 1906 steam engine boat can enjoy local food and wine amongst the ambience and warmth of the exclusive riverside campfires. New onshore experiences and existing cruise offers are available to book now.

ATE19 Media Program

Exhibitor applications are open until Friday 16 November for the Australian Tourism Exchange 2019 (ATE19) Media Program in Perth from 6 – 9 April. The program includes one-on-one appointments at the International Media Marketplace between Australian tourism businesses and select media and influencers who generate editorial, or create content on Australian tourism products, destinations and experiences for consumers. The ATE19 Media Program also includes networking sessions and events for media delegates and exhibitors.

Walkabout Japan 2019

Applications are open until Friday 19 October for Australian tourism businesses to attend Walkabout Japan 2019, Tourism Australia’s premier trade event to engage with key Japanese travel companies. The event will be held from Monday 25 February to Wednesday 27 February in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, 130 minutes by express bus from Shinjuku. An estimated 35 key Japanese buyers will attend, and 40 Australian seller organisations will be selected to represent a balanced and wide cross-section of products and services attractive to the Japanese market. Australian State, Territory and Regional Tourism Organisations will also attend.

Accessible tourism webinar

Tourism Australia is hosting a free accessible tourism webinar on Tuesday 30 October at 1pm. Australian tourism operators interested to learn more can register to watch the webinar live and have the ability to ask questions or watch it later on-demand. This webinar will outline the current size of the market for travellers with accessibility needs as well as Australian research into drivers/barriers to accessible tourism, the needs of travellers with a disability and those who travel with them, the most effective communication channels to reach this audience, and more.

Industry briefings in SA, TAS and NSW

Registration is open for Tourism Australia’s industry briefings in Adelaide from 2.00 to 4.00pm on Friday 9 November at the Playford and Hobart from 2.00 to 4.00pm on Friday 9 November at the Grand Chancellor ahead of the Tourism Awards Gala Dinners in each location. Tourism Australia is also holding an industry briefing in Sydney from 2.00 to 4.30pm on Friday 23 November at The Hilton. The briefings will involve senior executives from Tourism Australia and State Tourism executives providing an update on current and future activity and sharing research and insights from key international markets.

Jobs Queensland has developed a series of 13 Regional Tourism Workforce Plans in consultation with tourism industry stakeholders that support the Queensland Tourism Workforce Plan 2017–20.

The Mudgee Region in NSW has launched a new campaign, From Water to Wine, to encourage visiting friends and relatives of expats living in Australia to travel from the Sydney Coast to Mudgee wine country.

Registration is open for the Australian Regional Tourism Convention (ARTC) 2018 to be held in the Tweed from 23-25 October.

Applications are open until Sunday 4 November for the NSW Government's 2019 Incubator Event Fund to assist events in rural and regional NSW in areas such as marketing, public relations, venue hire and attendee research.

Registration is open for Tourism and Events Queensland's International Market Briefings in Cairns on Monday 12 November, Brisbane on Tuesday 13 November and the Gold Coast on Thursday 15 November.

Registration is open for the inaugural Adventure Tourism Awards and Youth Tourism Conference on the Gold Coast on Wednesday 14 November.

The program for the Global Eco Asia Pacific Tourism Conference in Townsville on 26-28 November has now been released.

Entries are open until Sunday 30 September for the first Destination Gold Coast Content Awards to celebrate the best of digital and social storytelling from the region. #DGCCA #WeAreGoldCoast

The next funding round of the Queensland Destination Events Program is open until Wednesday 10 October.

Registration is open for travel business and investment conference Travel IQ on Wednesday 24 October in Sydney.

Registration is open for the Bicycle Tourism and the Australian Walking and Cycling conferences from 26-30 October in Bendigo, Victoria.

Registration is open for the Australian Indigenous Tourism Conference to be held in Lorne, Victoria from 30 October to 1 November.

Registration is open for the Australian Event Symposium to be held on the Sunshine Coast from 19-21 November.

Registration is open for ATEC Meeting Place 2018 which will take place from 19-21 November in Darwin.

Industry are invited to register their interest for the Destination Australia Conference 2019 to be held on Thursday 14 March in Brisbane.

Tourism Australia wishes to pass on sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ian Kiernan, the round the world sailor and environmentalist who founded the Clean Up Australia organisation, who passed away last night.