Traveling Blog: Essentials… Australian Tourism Exchange 2022 special edition

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18 May 2022

TOURISM AUSTRALIA UPDATE

Tourism Australia’s largest annual travel trade event, the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), concludes today with more than 1,100 buyers and sellers attending the live event at the ICC Sydney.

The 42nd edition of our premier event, this year held in partnership with Destination NSW, ran from 15 to 18 May, with ATE Online to follow from 24 to 26 May to connect those unable to travel to Australia.

After two years of travel restrictions, it was great to welcome international buyers from 20 countries back to Australia for ATE. The relationships and future business opportunities built this week will help to spearhead the tourism industry’s recovery as we move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the challenges of the last two years, there has never been a better time to visit Australia, proven by the number of new and exciting experiences and products on show this week.

As we wrap up ATE Live in Sydney, today we announced that in 2023, the event will be held on the Gold Coast in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland. Find out more below.

Finally - we will be holding our May Industry Webinar on Friday 27 May at 11am AEST. Please register to attend here.

Phillipa Harrison

ATE21 Highlights

ATE in pictures

Watch the highlights of ATE Live 2022 and view the photo album here.

Welcome

ATE Live was officially opened by Aunty Margret, an Indigenous tourism icon, custodian of Dunghutti Culture and respected Sydney/Warrane elder. Steve Cox, Chief Executive Officer of Destination NSW and Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director of Tourism Australia also welcomed delegates to New South Wales and the 2022 event. Read more here.

New South Wales puts on a show

Destination NSW showcased some of the best food and drink from around New South Wales at their showcase event on Tuesday evening. Around 700 delegates enjoyed transfers across the iconic Sydney Harbour to Luna Park where they experienced the thrill of the rides and were entertained by Hannah Conda and Charisma Belle as well as DJ Erin Marshall and a hero performance by Furnance & The Fundamentals.

Come and say G’day media program

78 international and domestic media participated in the reimagined media program at ATE Live, including a media welcome event, press conference, exclusive lunch and tour of the event. Across Australia, 26 bespoke media familiarisation trips are also taking place pre and post ATE making it the largest media familiarisation since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

120 delegates participate in the Aviation Program

In its second year at ATE, the Aviation Program attracted more than 120 delegates from 22 airlines, 20 Australian airports, state and territory tourism organisations, Austrade, the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, and aviation consultants.
The ATE22 Aviation Program included an airport round table meeting and airline networking evening. In addition, a series of TV-style interviews were conducted by CAPA – Centre for Aviation, and the UNSW School of Aviation participated at the event where some of Australia’s best and brightest university students competed in a Sustainable Aviation Data Science Competition. The Aviation Program was introduced in 2021 by Tourism Australia to help Australia’s international airports develop stronger connections with airlines to aid the post-pandemic aviation and tourism recovery.

A carbon neutral event

As part of Tourism Australia’s commitment to its sustainability objectives, ATE22 has been delivered as a carbon neutral event. Some 1,200 tonnes of carbon will be offset through programs that focus on regeneration. Tourism Australia has also invested in Reef Credits to improve water quality across the Great Barrier Reef. In 2020, Tourism Australia partnered with the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) to develop a sustainability framework for the business events sector and as part of this work EEAA developed an event carbon calculator which allows event planners to calculate the carbon footprint of an event. Using this information to measure ATE, and working with GreenCollar, which works in partnership with Australian farmers, Traditional Owners and other land managers, to offset the footprint for ATE22, Tourism Australia has delivered a carbon neutral event.

Gold Coast to host Australian Tourism Exchange 2023

The 43rd edition of Australia’s premier tourism event, Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), will be held on the Gold Coast at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2023.
Today, at the conclusion of the ATE22 Live event in Sydney, Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison confirmed next year’s ATE would be held on the Gold Coast, in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ).
“Trade events like ATE are more important than ever for connecting Australian tourism suppliers with international travel wholesalers and retailers to help support the industry’s recovery from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ms Harrison said. “The long-term benefits from ATE are substantial – the relationships and future business it establishes can grow Australia’s tourism industry by up to $100 billion.”
We look forward to seeing you on the Gold Coast in 2023!