Essentials this week… | Restaurant Australia in the US | Darwin welcomes China flights | US trade activity | Luxperience | WYSTC | ITM18 | WTM18 | and more…

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30 May 2018     American foodies get a taste of Restaurant Australia Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria showcased Australian food and wine at Los Angeles’ largest food festival last weekend, the Los Angeles Times Foodbowl. Chef Ben Shewry of Attica joined Curtis Stone at his LA butcher shop and restaurant Gwen on Saturday for a Fireside Chat and Dinner. Both Friends of Australia, the chefs hosted a multi-course meal with wine pairings and shared stories about Aussie culture and food. The following day, Chef Ben Shewry returned for ‘Attica Invades Everson Royce Bar’, a party celebrating Australian food, beer, cocktails and wine. Tourism Australia is also partnering with the LA Times to host their first Reader Expeditions with American food critic Jonathan Gold to Australia. In 2017, the USA was Australia’s third largest inbound market for visitor arrivals, the second largest market for total visitor spend and fourth for visitor nights.     30 May 2018     Darwin welcomes Donghai Airlines Darwin welcomed its first ever direct service from China today, a twice-weekly Shenzhen-Darwin route operated by Donghai Airlines. "The new route is anticipated to bring thousands of new Chinese visitors to the Territory, and has the potential to deliver $32 million in new visitor expenditure each year once the route reaches three flights per week at 80 per cent capacity," said NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA NEWS  Connecting with the US travel trade at key events Tourism Australia’s team in the US have been very active updating industry at events across the country this month. At the Global Travel Market West in Las Vegas, the US team connected with more than 100 targeted agents from the western United States and hosted training sessions featuring ‘Why Australia’ content and Dundee creative. In Orlando, the US team also shared Australia's premium story and Dundee experiences with more than 100 travel advisors at Virtuoso Travel Week On Tour. The following week, Tourism Australia co-hosted a special food and wine evening in New York City with Air New Zealand for 50 luxury advisors from Virtuoso, American Express and other premium brands. Luxperience and Tourism Australia announce partnership for 2018 Tourism Australia is a major sponsor of this year’s Luxperience event, a luxury and experiential travel trade exhibition at the International Convention Centre, Sydney from 16-19 September. Tourism Australia will host the Buyer and Media Lounge at the event and host a selection of familiarisation tours around Australia in conjunction with the State Tourism offices. “Through our involvement in Luxperience we aim to give specialist buyers from around the world greater insight and first-hand experience of the diversity of Australia’s luxury and premium tourism offering,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan. (Photo: Southern Ocean Lodge / George Apostilides)

AUSTRALIAN STORIES  Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park renovation complete Ahead of the hotel’s 25th anniversary Sheraton on the Park has announced the completion of a $40 million overhaul of its 558 guestrooms and Sheraton Club Lounge. In the heart of Sydney’s business district and coveted fashion precinct, a redesign of the 510 guestrooms and 48 suites has shaped a more refined and residential style with an emphasis on sophisticated, yet approachable luxury. The Lost Camel returns to Ayers Rock Resort The Lost Camel hotel, featuring contemporary studio-style rooms, will re-open at Ayers Rock Resort on 1 July 2018, creating a unique and edgy accommodation options for guests in the spiritual heart of Australia. The Lost Camel hotel originally opened at Ayers Rock in 2002, closing to become staff housing in 2012, and has now once again been re-invigorated to provide additional guest accommodation to cater for increased demand in the region. Sovereign Hill celebrates Winter Wonderlights Sovereign Hill is getting ready to stage their annual Christmas in July Winter Wonderlights event, which last year saw over 100,000 people through their gates. Running this year from Saturday 30 June – Sunday 22 July 2018, faux snow will fall during the day time and over 15km of fairy lights will light up the township at night along with 25 Victorian buildings adorned with festive yuletide animations. New dining destination for the Central Coast The Central Coast has welcomed the launch of Saddles, a new eatery and country bakehouse in a quintessential Australian homestead. Located in Mount White on 28 acres of bushland, the new dining destination is a project from the investors behind the award-winning Pretty Beach House in Killcare. Cameron Cansdell, the 2016 Electrolux Restaurateur of the Year has designed the humble, seasonally-focused à la carte dining and bakehouse menus that highlights in-season produce and heirloom varieties cultivated from the onsite kitchen garden.

INDUSTRY NEWS AND EVENTS  World Youth and Student Travel Conference Registration is open for the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) to be held in Edinburgh from 18-21 September. Australian operators that register for WYSTC will automatically be added to Tourism Australia’s ‘Australian Village’ saving them the cost of a booth at the event. Tourism Australia will also be hosting subsequent agent training events to compliment the buyer appointments. WYSTC is the leading trade event for the global youth, student and educational travel industry attracting over 600 delegates from around the world. Tourism Australia will also host a roadshow for Australian operators attending WYSTC. India Travel Mission 2018 Seller applications have been extended until midday Friday 1 June for the India Travel Mission 2018 in Jaipur from 20 - 23 August. ITM is an opportunity for the Australian tourism industry to establish business relationships with key qualified travel agencies and tour operators in India. The travel mission includes pre-scheduled meetings between buyers and sellers as well as opportunities to network at official functions. In 2017 India was Australia’s eight largest inbound market for visitor arrivals, seventh largest market for total visitor spend and third for visitor nights. World Travel Market 2018 Seller applications are open until Friday 22 June for World Travel Market 2018 to be held in London from 5 to 7 November. The World Travel Market (WTM) 2018 is one of the world's leading travel exhibitions attracting over 50,000 travel industry professionals to network and negotiate new business generating more than £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. Tourism Australia will have a stand at WTM and manage a reception desk for scheduled buyer appointments as well as fielding requests from non-scheduled potential buyers for appointments.

NEWS IN BRIEF    Tourism Australia is inviting Northern NSW tourism operators to meet its Board and Executive team at a free networking function from 5.30 to 7pm on Thursday 7 June at Elements of Byron. Registration is required. A new Japanese website has been launched to increase consumer knowledge on Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef and encourage longer and repeat visitation. The Northern Territory Minister for Tourism and Culture Lauren Moss has announced the appointment of Simonne Shepherd to the role of CEO of the Northern Territory’s Department of Tourism and Culture. Tourism Australia has published its recent NT industry briefing presentation on its corporate website. The South Australian Regional Visitor Strategy has been launched and outlines opportunities to grow South Australia’s regional visitor economy by $1 billion and create 1000 new jobs. Destination NSW has announced the appointment of Pascal Reiling as Business Development and Partnership Marketing Manager for Germany and France based in Frankfurt. The South Australian Tourism Commission is hosting a series of Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) information sessions for operators. Applications are open until Wednesday 6 June for the Queensland Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program offering matched funding of up to $5,000 to engage a consultant, advisor or business coach for up to three months to help establish or develop the business. Tourism and Events Queensland has announced dates and locations for its Conversations with Industry events around the State.     Registration is open until Friday 6 July to join the Australia stand at IMEX America from 16 to 18 October 2018. Applications are open until Sunday 29 July for the NT Government's new Recreational Fishing Grants Scheme. One million dollars has been set aside for the scheme with $500,000 available in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years. Applications are open until Friday 29 June for the Queensland on Tour Japan 2018 roadshow visiting Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo from 12-14 September. Applications are open until Friday 6 July for Tourism Australia’s Advance Program to increase international visitation to confirmed business events being held in Australia. Registration is open for ATEC Meeting Place 2018 which will take place from 19-21 November in Darwin. Registration is open for the VIC Tourism Conference to be held on 30-31 July at the RACV Cape Schanck Resort. Expressions of interests are being sought from potential delegates, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors for the Australian Indigenous Tourism Conference to be held from Tuesday 30 October to Friday 2 November in Lorne, Victoria. Applications are open until Saturday 30 June for one-off support funding of up to $5,000 under the Northern Territory Government's China Ready Program. Tourism Australia has published recordings of presentations from the Destination Australia Conference held in Melbourne on Thursday 15 March. Industry are also invited to register interest for next year’s conference to be held on Thursday 14 March 2019 in Brisbane.

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