Chinese celebrity Wu Xiubo shares his Australian holiday experiences

Tourism Australia’s Ambassador for China-Australia Year of Tourism 2017, well-known Chinese actor Wu Xiubo, recently completed a 15-day famil trip in Australia with his family to encourage more Chinese travellers to choose Australia as their holiday destination. The visit, supported by Visit Canberra and Visit Victoria, saw Mr Wu and his family enjoy wildlife experiences at Jamala Lodge and Ballarat Wildlife Park, journey along the Great Ocean Road, soak up Melbourne’s coffee scene and take in an Aboriginal Heritage and Culture tour at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in Canberra. Video content and still images captured during the visit will be shared across digital and social channels in China.

The potential of Virtual Reality for tourism

Tourism Australia has published an overview of its research into the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) for destination marketing. The findings show emerging VR technologies are providing new ways for consumers to engage with destinations, providing a level of immersion and engagement unmatched by other media.

New youth promotion creating a buzz with aspiring content creators

Entries have started coming in already from young travellers and aspiring content creators from the UK, Germany, Italy and France for Tourism Australia's first ever BuzzFeed Mateship program. The Mateship is an exciting three-month opportunity for budding writers, producers, and content creators to showcase incredible Australian experiences across multiple social media platforms. Eight ‘Mates’ will participate in the ultimate road trip around Australia visiting awesome, diverse destinations. Application opened last week at buzzfeed.com/jobs and close on Friday 18 August.

Tourism Australia appoints new Country Manager Singapore and Indonesia

Scott Walker has been appointed as Tourism Australia's Country Manager Singapore and Indonesia and will start in the role in October. For the past four years Scott has been Tourism Australia's Country Manager Korea during which time he and his team have delivered a number of innovative marketing and distribution campaigns which have contributed to significant growth from that market. Scott will report to Brent Anderson who was recently promoted to Regional General Manager South and South East Asia. Tourism Australia has begun the recruitment process for a new Country Manager Korea.

Tourism Australia partners with ATEC on health and safety checklist

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has today announced Tourism Australia will use its Online Health & Safety Checklist as a way of providing quality assurance for international media and trade familiarisations in Australia. ATEC’s Online Health & Safety Checklist is an initiative developed by the industry in response to requests from international travel wholesalers and Australian inbound tourism operators, for a centralised platform for sharing health and safety due diligence information on Australian tourism products. Tourism Australia’s Managing Director, John O’Sullivan said ATEC’s Online Health and Safety Checklist would assist in delivering safer familiarisations and events. Find out more.

New partnership offers self-drive routes for Chinese visitors

Tourism Australia has partnered with Didi Chuxing, the leading Chinese transportation app, to design three routes for independent travellers to explore the country by car. Travellers can find all the details they need on the international version of the Didi app's car rental section. The three routes recommended to independent Chinese travellers on the road include: a “coastal and urban lifestyle route” from Cairns to Melbourne; a “Red Centre and the explorer’s route” from Uluru to Melbourne; and a “nature and cuisine route” from Broome to Albany.

Inaugural NGV Gala, Saturday 26 August 2017

The inaugural NGV Gala will be held at NGV International on Saturday 26 August 2017 to celebrate the opening of The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture. Grammy award winning artist Kimbra and Australian electronic dance duo Yolanda Be Cool will be headlining this special event.

New premium tour through the Flinders Ranges

From September 2017, Kangaroo Island Odysseys will commence a new four-day Flinders Ranges Outback tour. The tour will operate from Adelaide and guests will travel in luxury air-conditioned Mercedes Benz vehicles with two nights at Rawnsley Park Station and one night at the Prairie Hotel.

Tassie’s revolving restaurant reopens

Following an extensive restoration of the venue, The Point Revolving Restaurant has reopened on the seventeenth floor of Wrest Point in Hobart. Guests can take in sweeping views of the Derwent River and Mount Wellington whilst sampling local Tasmanian produce.

Cairns Museum now open

After two years of refurbishment and renovation, as well as an injection of $1.6 million, the Cairns Museum opened last month with over 80 volunteer hosts welcoming visitors from all over the world. The world-class museum tells the story of Cairns over four permanent and one temporary galleries.

Dreamtime 2017

Registrations are open until Friday 25 August for Australian Industry to participate in Dreamtime 2017, Tourism Australia’s signature business events showcase. Held every two years in a different Australian destination, the Dreamtime program consists of business to business sessions between Australian industry and international incentive agents. Presented in partnership with the Brisbane Convention Bureau, Dreamtime 2017 will take place from 3 to 6 December in Queensland’s state capital.

Greater China Travel Mission

Seller applications are open until Wednesday 16 August for the Greater China Travel Mission (GCTM) to be held in Guangzhou from 11 - 14 December. GCTM provides a forum for Australian tourism businesses to engage with approximately 70 key Chinese buyers and establish business links through a scheduled appointment program. The GCTM buyers are end decision makers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan who actively sell Australia as a preferred long-haul destination to Chinese travellers.

Greater China Premium Travel Showcase

Seller applications are open until Wednesday 16 August for the Greater China Premium Travel Showcase (GCPTS17), to be held in Guangzhou, China from 13 – 15 December. GCPTS17 provides a forum for premium and luxury Australian tourism businesses to engage with approximately 30 key premium buyers from the Greater China region to showcase their product through a scheduled appointment program. The GCPTS buyers sell Australia as a premium destination to Chinese travellers.

China Destination Development Mission

Expressions of interest are open until Friday 25 August for Australian businesses to join Austrade’s first-ever Destination Development Mission to China. The mission will be of interest to Australian tourism consultants, education and training providers, hotel and other operators looking to deliver goods and services into China. It will provide opportunities to engage with government officials, industry players and customers as well as opportunities for business matching, networking events and participation in the Australian Tourism Education showcase.

Luxury trends shaping the travel industry

Travellers are looking for new luxury experiences which involve a sense of purpose and compassion according to a new report by Sabre Corporation which identified five key ‘Future of Luxury’ trends. Sabre recommends that these experiences be shaped around traveller emotions, and help them discover new aspects of their personalities in the process. For more research and trends related to international and domestic tourism and travel visit Tourism Australia’s Insight Files.

Tourism Australia’s fourth annual Destination Australia Conference (DestAus18), the top tourism marketing conference Down Under, will be held in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March 2018. Register your interest for DestAus18.

Tourism Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission have confirmed that the Australian Tourism Exchange 2018 (ATE18) will be held in Adelaide from 15 to 19 April. Seller applications will open late August.

Registration is open for the Modern Travel Media Summit in Sydney on Friday 22 September.

Registration is open for the 2017 Whitsundays Tourism Exchange in Airlie Beach on Wednesday 22 November.

Registration is open for ATEC Meeting Place 2017 in Perth from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 November.

Registration is open for the Victoria Summit 2017 Forum, this year focusing on liveability and the visitor economy, to be held on Tuesday 22 August in Melbourne.

Registration is open for the DestinationQ 2017 Events Conference in Toowoomba on Wednesday 30 August.

Tourism WA has made some significant changes to its consumer website, www.westernaustralia.com, making it easier to navigate and providing better, more relevant content.

Tourism and Events Queensland has published the Tourism Data Explorer, an interactive dashboard that provides users with access to National Visitor Survey and International Visitor Survey time series data for visitation and expenditure within Australia.

Registrations are now open for Season 3 of the Northern Territory Government's Million Dollar Fish competition.

A series of new videos have been produced showcasing backpackers working in the Northern Territory.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has appointed Gloria Guevara Manzo as its new president and CEO.

China Southern will fly five direct flights per week between Guangzhou and Adelaide on a seasonal basis from December.

Mantra Group Limited has confirmed an agreement to acquire The Art Series Hotel Group.

Jetstar has announced three direct flights between Hobart and Adelaide taking off from 14 November.

The NSW Government has released a $6 million NSW Regional Conferencing Strategy & Action Plan aimed at driving more business events and visitors to rural and regional NSW.