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2 June 2021

TOURISM AUSTRALIA UPDATE
The changing health situation in Victoria has once again highlighted how quickly things can change with COVID-19, and our thoughts are with all the tourism communities and businesses in Victoria during this time. We are now less than a week away from the 2021 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE21). At this time, the event is going ahead as planned but please be assured that we are closely monitoring current developments. The extended COVID-19 restrictions announced today will impact our Victorian based delegates. Those who are unable to attend ATE Live in person will participate in a virtual capacity. Should any further changes to delegate attendance or the event be required, our Events team will communicate information as early as possible. Ahead of ATE21, we have our next webinar taking place this Friday 4 June at 11am. The webinar will include an update on ATE, including details on what’s new and different for the event this year. We will also provide an update of some of our latest research and insights to give you a sense of how things are tracking in our key markets, and what the latest emerging trends are. In recognition of National Reconciliation Week, we will also provide an update on our approach at Tourism Australia to reconciliation, and our Head of Indigenous Affairs, Phil Lockyer, will be joined by Kirstie Parker, who is on the Board for Reconciliation Australia. You can register for the webinar here. Phillipa Harrison

Spotlight on the Regions – Australia

This week, ‘Spotlight on the Regions’ features an interview with Andrew Hutchinson, Tourism Australia’s General Manager Domestic and New Zealand, who shares insights and observations from the domestic market, as well as updates on key stakeholders and activities to keep domestic travel front of mind in-market. Read the update here.

Tourism Australia Activity

ATE21 Live and Online

The first hybrid Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) kicks off next week with ATE Live in Sydney from 6 to 9 June, followed by ATE Online from 10 to 17 June. Over 430 Australian and New Zealand based buyers and 580 Australian sellers will participate at ATE Live, in a program that includes new components such as an aviation program, content program and a completely different trade show format. Then, 600 Australian sellers and 725 internationally based buyers will meet virtually for appointments and on demand content sessions. Over 57,000 appointments will take place across ATE21. Visit the ATE website for more information and to view content from the live event next week.

European Media learn about Bush Food in Western Australia

In May, Tourism Australia’s Continental Europe team partnered with Tourism Western Australia to put a spotlight on Aboriginal tourism experiences with an exclusive media event for European media. Wardandi Bibbulman woman, Dale Tilbrook from Dale Tilbrook Experiences, hosted an insightful online bush food workshop for 38 media representatives from Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. To get a taste of the bush foods, participants received a ‘tasting box’ with a selection of Dale’s produce. Dale shared her knowledge about Aboriginal food traditions, the Noongar Six Seasons as well as her favourite recipes. Media feedback was very positive and underlined the huge interest in learning about Aboriginal culture and experiences in Continental Europe.

ATE21 product development forum in South East Asia

In the lead up to ATE21, the Tourism Australia team in South East Asia recently held a series of online product development forums to help the trade prepare for the event. Held together with the State and Territory Tourism Organisations, the sessions had a total attendance of 110 buyers. During the session, buyers from the region had the opportunity to learn more about first time sellers as well as practical information on the online format of the event. Guidance on preferencing and appointments was also provided. Almost 90 buyers from South East Asia will be attending ATE Online.

Tourism Australia Re-engaged with travel trade in China

Tourism Australia together with Key Distribution Partner (KDP) from China, Wuhan Favor Tour, co-hosted an industry event last week. The event included an Aussie Specialist Program hybrid training session, industry seminar and industry media gathering. The training was hosted and presented on Wuhan’s iconic showboat and was simultaneously viewed online by more than 1200 Chinese Aussie Specialist travel agents via WeChat. The training session was the biggest of its kind since the pandemic hit the city and the first hybrid Aussie Specialist training event. Supported by Wuhan TV news host Angela Sun the seminar was broadcast live on Wuhan TV Station’s social livestream platform with more than 35,000 views recorded.

Tourism Industry News

Support for Tropical North Queensland

The Federal Government is providing an additional $7.7 million in targeted support for Tropical North Queensland to promote the region as a year-round tourism destination, including funding for:

A year-round Destination Marketing Strategy to help drive year-round visitation to Tropical North Queensland,
Support for Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s (TTNQ) Experience Marketing and Development Project, and
TTNQ’s Travel Incentive Scheme which will provide a $250 incentive to book and spend a minimum of $1,000 on tourism products, attractions and experiences in the Tropical North Queensland region.

Support for Victorian businesses

The Victorian Government has announced the $250 million Circuit Breaker Business Support Package to assist small to medium businesses and sole traders. The package will support businesses unable to operate due to the recent COVID-19 lockdown and includes:

A $190.01 million second round of the Business Costs Assistance Program
A $40.7 million new round of the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund
$20 million in targeted support for the events industry.

Australian Stories

Badu Gili: First Nations artist-driven light show projects on the Sydney Opera House sails

Each day at sunset, the sails of the Sydney Opera House are illuminated with a free spectacular six-minute projection that explores ancient First Nations stories. The free Badu Gili projections paused temporarily in 2020 due to COVID-19, but are now back with a new projection celebrating the work and stories of six female First Nations artists, called Wonder Women. Curated by Art Gallery of New South Wales Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Coby Edgar, it is a creative collaboration between the Opera House and the Art Gallery of New South Wales to mark the Gallery's 150th anniversary. More information is available here.

Australian Museum to present one of the most significant exhibitions in its history, Unsettled

Discover Aboriginal Experiences member the Australian Museum has launched a powerful new exhibition, Unsettled, in which First Nations’ voices tell Australia's foundation story including First Nations resilience and survival. The new free exhibition is one of the most significant in the museum’s history. With more than 190 objects and images in the show and over 100 contributions by First Nations peoples across the country, Unsettled illuminates the power of truth-telling. The exhibition will run until 10 October 2021 and a full program of First Nations events will compliment this important exhibition, including tours, talks, films, workshops, meditation and weaving, see more information here.

Hear from some of Australia’s most notable Aboriginal guides in the new DAE Media Kit

Aboriginal guides bring a unique cultural insight to the land and history of Australia through their stories and way of life. The Discover Aboriginal Experiences (DAE) collective shines a spotlight on some of the country’s most notable Aboriginal guides in its latest media kit. Bardi man, Terry Hunter, and Mark Saddler, a Wiradjuri man from Wagga Wagga NSW both feature in the media kit. Terry Hunter is the fourth generation of his family to work in the pearling trade but the first to become a tour guide operating the Borrgoron Coast to Creek Tours in Broome. Mark Saddler is on a mission to get people to slow down and reconnect with the land on his Bundyi Cultural Tours. Discover more in the new DAE media kit, available on the Tourism Australia website under ‘Resources’ here.

Sample the sea’s bounty in a new way

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have harvested marine life for tens of thousands of years. The act is as cultural as it is sustaining, often guided by rules contained in Dreaming stories: when to fish, who can fish, what can be taken and how much can be harvested. North of Broome in Western Australia, learn how to pop open oysters that are still stuck to rocks, using only spinifex grass and fire with Discover Aboriginal Experiences (DAE) member Borrgoron Coast to Creek Tours, and in Tropical North Queensland, take lessons on how to spear mud crabs in the mangroves with DAE member Walkabout Cultural Adventures. For more stories like this, sign up to the new dedicated trade and media DAE newsletter here.