Australia meets US travel leaders at marketplace event

Tourism Australia’s Marketplace North America event marked a welcome return to its third year this week as Australian industry leaders met face-to-face with US travel agents and tour operators at the Westdrift Manhattan Beach Hotel in Los Angeles.

The high-energy three-day event from August 7 to 9 was hosted by Tourism Australia, and sponsored by Qantas, American Airlines, Destination New South Wales and Tourism Queensland.

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The excitement was palpable among the 102 buyers and 107 sales delegates who attended. The Marketplace event provided an opportunity to reconnect with trading partners on the Pacific Rim after long separations. After two years of strict border closures in Australia, there have been many new developments.

The issue was launched on Sunday afternoon at the North American Market Reform Forum by some senior figures in the Aussie tourism industry. Speakers Tourism Australia Managing Director Philippa Harrison; General Manager, Strategy and Research, Rob Dougan; Tourism Australia Vice President, Americas, Chris Allison; and Senator Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism.

The opening presentation included contributions from five senior executives: Matt Cameron-Smith, CEO of Voyages Indigenous Tourism; John O’Sullivan, Experience Co. YHA CEO Paul McGrath; Kate Schilling, CEO of Ultimate Wine Experience; Experience Co CEO, John O’Sullivan; and Virtuoso’s Senior Vice President, Global Operations, Michael Londregan.

“We’re starting to work really hard in terms of inviting Americans to Australia,” Harrison said. “This is a very important market for us, this has always been an important market for us and I can tell you that we will continue to invest very heavily.”

The United States was Australia’s third largest source market and second largest spender for international tourism, with 818,000 Americans traveling to Australia in 2019 and spending $3.9 billion. Referring to the newly installed Prime Minister’s administration, Farrell added, “The Albanese Government is committed to returning Australia’s tourism industry to the economic powerhouse we know it to be and letting the world know that Australia is open for business.”

It was simply thought that Australia’s tourism bodies and sector operators would simply shut down during the pandemic, but that is far from the truth. Instead, state, regional and local destination marketing organizations and various tourism-related businesses took advantage of the holiday season, bracing themselves for the day when borders finally open.

Tourism Australia’s assistant VP of the Americas, Chris Allison, said the agency had continued its efforts over the past two years. “We didn’t want to pull back significantly, so we invested in marketing to get the content in front of consumers, to get them excited and dreaming about trips to Australia when we open in the future,” he said. . “And, on the mentoring side, we’re actively involved in our Aussie Specialist program to keep people updated, educated and engaged in our destination.”

In the year In the first four weeks after Australia reopened on February 21, the government deployed a $40 million marketing spree focused on the tagline “Don’t Go Small.” Go to Australia. After being relatively limited to local destinations during the pandemic, the phrase was strategically chosen to tap into current consumer demand for once-in-a-lifetime trips.

Australia has always been a bucket list destination, so I think there’s a tendency now for people to review their destination priorities, see what they’d see as their future bucket list destinations and prioritize what to do. right now. So that’s a huge opportunity for us,” Allison told TravelPulse.

He also added: “Later this year, in October, we will launch a brand new campaign across all our major international markets. Now re-opening and inviting everyone to ‘come and kill’ we invite the world to descend on Australia once again.

During days two and three of the event, attendees engaged in a series of one-on-one meetings scheduled for eight minutes. Sellers stay put, while buyers move from one table to another at allotted times, in a speed-dating style setting. A useful Tourism Australia app helped participants stay on schedule, and provided networking information on all participants with a chat function. But, as before, it is the element in man that is priceless.

“The Australian marketplace provides an opportunity for our tourism operators to establish business relationships with key qualified travel agencies and tour operators from North America,” Harrison told Hotel Management. These relationships are vital for Australia’s tourism industry as we seek to rebuild as one of the sectors hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since borders reopened six months ago, Tourism Australia has been pushing hard to jump-start the sector’s recovery in key tourism markets and regain pre-pandemic momentum. Among the many industry events the agency hosts are upcoming marketplace events for other regions.

Tourism Australia Marketplace Japan and Korea will be held from September 26-30, while Tourism Australia Marketplace UK and Europe are set for November 14-15. Excitement is building to return in person for the 43rd Australian Tourism Exchange on the Gold Coast from April 30 to May 4, 2023.