Essentials this week… | International visitor spending reaches $44bn | Market update presentations | #InstagramStories | IMM London | Mafengwo event | and more…

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3 April 2019     International visitor spending outpaces arrivals in 2018 Spending by international visitors to Australia in 2018 grew by 7 percent to $43.9 billion, outpacing the 5 per cent growth in arrivals at 9.2 million for the year. India was Australia's fastest growing visitor market for spend last year at $1.7 billion, up 21 per cent, while China retains the top spot as Australia’s highest value visitor market at $11.7 billion, up 13 per cent from the year before. Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, said Asia presents an enormous tourism opportunity for Australia. Tourism Australia has published an international tourism infographic showing international arrivals, spend and aviation data for the year. An interactive report that shows visitors’ country of origin, places visited in Australia and trend charts on arrivals and spend is available on Tourism Australia’s corporate website.     3 April 2019     Tourism Australia market updates Ahead of the 40th annual Australian Tourism Exchange next week in Perth, Tourism Australia’s country managers have provided recorded presentations with updates and insights on the performance of Australia’s key inbound markets. Further information on Tourism Australia’s target market regions is available including detailed market performance data, consumer profiles, information on the distribution system in each market and more.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA NEWS  Tourism Australia and Mafengwo share unique Australian experiences Tourism Australia and Mafengwo, one of China’s top travel platforms, held a ‘sharing event’ with five key opinion leaders and over 80 consumers in Shanghai last week to showcase unique Australian travel experiences. The event was part of the ‘Too Australian For Words’ campaign Tourism Australia is currently running in China to promote more unusual, unfamiliar and unexpected experiences that spark interest amongst travellers. The campaign aims to challenge perceptions and stereotypes of what Australia offers the region’s travellers as a tourism destination. British media get updated at International Media Marketplace Sixty British travel journalists, editors and broadcasters had personalised briefings from Tourism Australia last week at the annual International Media Marketplace (IMM) in London. Located in the Queen Elizabeth II building a branded Australia stand at the event provided destination information and editorial inspiration for media attending. Tourism Australia also sponsored the IMM evening reception to take the opportunity to remind media why there’s nothing like Australia with Aussie-inspired canapés and wine, along with a special guest performance by Australian musician Joel Sarakula. New format Instagram Stories showcase Australia’s regions Last month Tourism Australia launched a new initiative to more deeply engage its 3.5 million Instagram followers with regions around the country. Using a new and unique audience-led format for Instagram Stories, Tourism Australia is giving its followers the opportunity to vote on what they want to do in a region to help build a story. Each fortnight a different region will be featured showcasing key points of interests such as tourism attractions, activities, restaurants and hotels. The first story featuring Brisbane attracted 60,000 votes and received 5.7 million impressions with 70% of the audience watching each story from start to finish. Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is currently in the spotlight and industry are encouraged to get in touch with Tourism Australia’s social media team with ideas for future stories.

AUSTRALIAN STORIES  Lap of Tasmania – A stress-free, self-drive, tailor-made itinerary Lap of Tasmania is a new online platform assisting travellers to plan their ultimate Tasmanian road-trip. With its small size, stunning landscapes and world-class attractions, Tasmania is tailor-made to be explored on a self-guided adventure. The 1,500km self-drive road trip circles can be completed in as little as seven days by car, campervan or motorcycle. Along the route, road trippers will experience Tasmania’s ‘Big 12’ iconic attractions, including Mt Field, Cradle Mountain, Port Arthur Historic Site, Bay of Fires, Freycinet, and the Tamar Valley and Coal River Valley wine regions. Travellers can plan their ultimate Lap of Tasmania road-trip online. Crown Group to open third luxury serviced apartment hotel in Sydney  Just 3km from Sydney’s CBD, Crown Group will open its third luxury serviced apartments hotel, SKYE Suites Green Square as part of a $575 million development Infinity by Crown Group. The elegant new hotel will feature 90 guest rooms fitted with premium Kevin Murphy products, a virtual concierge tablet and limitless in-room entertainment streaming. Also accessible to hotel guests is a convention centre, a new retail and dining precinct with 20 venues and a Woolworths Supermarket as part of the Infinity complex development. Opening in October 2019, SKYE Suites Green Square promises to redefine the boundaries of the 5-star luxury hotel experience. New guided Indigenous tour at Sydney’s Australian Museum  Sydney’s Australian Museum has launched a new guided tour providing an immersive insight into Indigenous Australian cultures. The Waranara tour, meaning ‘to seek’ in the local Dharug language, is led by Aboriginal guides and weaves personal stories of their own country, culture and experiences in a one-hour tour of the First Australians galleries Bayala, Nura and Garrigarrang. The iconic museum provides custodial care to more than 20,000 Indigenous Australian body ornaments, tools, bark paintings, toys, weapons and contemporary art and sculpture from across the country and is a member of the Discover Aboriginal Experiences collective. Immersive Aura theatre show brings new light to Sovereign Hill, Victoria Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill has officially launched its new sound and light show, AURA, bringing together the rich stories of the land from the beginning of time. The new show features hundreds of stunning projections and enables visitors explore space, delve into the dreamtime and relive Australia’s most important rebellion, all while travelling under the night sky. Sovereign Hill is Australia’s foremost outdoor museum which recreates the goldrush era of 1851 where Australia’s history comes to life. Ballarat is located just 90 minutes’ drive from Melbourne, Victoria.

INDUSTRY NEWS AND EVENTS  2019 North American Australia Marketplace Applications are open until 17 May for Australian tourism businesses wanting to participate in the 2019 North American Australia Marketplace in Los Angeles from 26 to 29 August. Over 100 North American buyers and 100 Australian representatives of tourism products and experiences will attend the event for three days of one-on-one appointments and networking opportunities. Attendance for North American wholesalers, retail advisors and Premier Aussie Specialists is by invitation only. The event is hosted by Australia's State and Territory tourism organisations in conjunction with Tourism Australia. A new era of hotel development in Australia Australia’s capital cities and regions have experienced an unprecedented wave of hotel openings in recent months and will see the peak of development in the coming years with 300 new or upgraded hotels scheduled to open by 2025. While previous phases of Australian hotel development have focused on attracting big name international hotel chains, current development is characterised by a rise of lifestyle and boutique hotels reflecting changing traveller preferences. Perth, which has been at the forefront of this hotel development, will be showcasing its offerings to delegates next week at the Australian Tourism Exchange. 2019-20 Foreign Affairs and Trade Budget The Government will invest an additional $60 million in the Export Market Development Grants Scheme (EMDG) over the next three years, bringing the total annual spend to $157.9 million, to assist current and aspiring small to medium-sized exporters to utilise free trade agreements and seek new offshore opportunities for their goods and services.The Budget also provides $50 million over three years for a National Tourism Icons Program for vital tourism infrastructure and upgrades, and provides record funding to Tourism Australia to continue to promote Australia overseas, helping to drive tourism growth, particularly in regional areas. Find out more.

NEWS IN BRIEF    US travel company Down Under Answers is holding a Symposium in Byron Bay this week with 55 US agents meeting with 50 travel businesses from around Australia and New Zealand. Applications are open until Wednesday 17 April for grant funding to develop an innovative solution that captures, aggregates and effectively measures all aspects of the tourism industry as part of the Australian Government’s Business Research and Innovation Initiative. Submissions are open until Friday 24 May for the 2019 NSW Regional Tourism Awards (previously known as the Inland NSW Tourism Awards).     Registration is open for the 2019 Destination Melbourne LIVE tourism conference on Thursday 30 May at the Arts Centre Melbourne. Nominations are open until Friday 28 June for the NSW Tourism Awards. Tourism Australia has published presentations from the fifth annual Destination Australia Conference held in March in Brisbane and is inviting industry to register their interest for next year’s conference on Thursday 12 March in Adelaide.

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