Tourism Australia becomes associate member of Atas

Tourism Australia has joined the Association of Touring and Adventure Suppliers to promote the destination to travel agents and tour operators.

A key current message will be highlighting how Australia is open for business after the bushfires crisis.

Tourism Australia has an international tourism recovery plan that addresses the concerns surrounding the recent bushfires, debunking myths and supplying "inspirational key messages and destination information”.

Building on its established slogan, There's Nothing Like Australia, its campaign focuses on why ‘There's Still Nothing Like Australia'.

The campaign will be seen in the UK across billboards, print media, online and through social media.

Sally Cope, UK & Northern Europe regional general manager at the tourist board, said: "Despite the distressing images of the fires seen in news reports, less than 3% of Australia was directly affected by the bushfires and the majority of destinations popular with international travellers were fortunately untouched, with tourism businesses in those regions remaining open throughout.

"The best thing agents can do is to encourage consumers to go ahead with their holiday to Australia.”

She added: "Like all destinations, we currently face a level of uncertainty due to the rapidly evolving situation with the coronavirus and are aware that we need to remain agile in order to best support our industry through what could be a highly disrupted period.”

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She said Tourism Australia was keen to join Atas as an associate member because the destination is seeing growth in the adventure and touring sector.

"We see Atas as an ideal platform through which to engage further, to share our own news and updates and to collaborate with our industry peers – our fellow Atas members,” she said.

The tourist board will also be promoting the Adventure Travel Trade Association's (ATTA) Adventure World Summit 2020, which takes place in Adelaide (October 6-9).

The summit will be hosted by ATTA in partnership with Tourism Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission.

There will be 800 global delegates including niche adventure tour operators, frontline travel sellers, international media and adventure travel industry experts.

"Sharing news and opportunities associated with this event to ATAS members has natural synchronicity,” said Cope.

She added: "We have a strong network of almost 3,000 Aussie Specialist travel agents who are extremely knowledgeable about Australia and our tourism offering.

"Our team continues to provide them with training events and webinars to ensure this valuable group of Australian sellers feel engaged and enthused.”

Another key trade show is the annual Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) – due to take place in Melbourne this May, with more than 25 UK trade travel representatives, and 1,400 representatives of Australia's tourism industry from more than 550 companies.

Cope said the British travel trade is "hugely important for” Tourism Australia as the UK is Australia's third biggest market by expenditure, with more than 700,000 visitors in 2019.

About 85% of the market is leisure travellers who stay on average 17 nights and travel widely into Australia's regions.

"Traditional booking channels remain hugely important for more complicated long-haul and high value destinations like Australia,” she said.

She said adventure and touring holidays are rising popularity in Australia as travellers seek "more meaningful experiences, immerse themselves in nature and get off the beaten track”.

"In Australia, that translates into more demand for authentic aboriginal experiences with greater engagement, such as Yalingbila Tours, Australia's first Aboriginal owned whale-watching tour in Queensland or the new Hervey Bay Aboriginal walking tour that connects the traditional Aboriginal culture and history of the local Butchulla people,” she commented.

Australian celebrity chef John Torode Has taken on the role of APT's Ambassador for the Kimberley region, known as ‘Australia's final frontier'.

He travelled through the Kimberley extensively and has been spreading word of its hidden gems.

There are also lots of voluntourism opportunities for people who want to help with the local wildlife that has been affected during the bushfires.

Cope commented: "Australia undoubtedly had a tough start to 2020. However, the Australian way of life has continued to shine, helping to put smiles on people's faces across the globe.

"If travellers are looking for ways to help Australian communities affected by the bushfires, then the best thing they could do is to book a trip.

"Repeat visitation to Australia is high, so we know that once Brits have made the journey once, they're inclined to visit again and again.

"With the west coast of Australia now accessible by a single flight – and one that isn't the longest in the world – it helps to dispel the notion that Australia is prohibitively far away.

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"Sustainability is something we knows travellers are increasingly concerned with and we're proud that Australia's tourism infrastructure is filled with great examples of innovation and creativity – from self-sustaining accommodation, properties whose architecture hides them in the landscape or the sustainable use of ingredients foraged locally in restaurants across the country.

"A touring/adventure holiday in Australia would suit anyone with a sense of adventure, a love of nature and wildlife, and a desire to tap into the spirit of ‘mateship' that Australians are known and loved for.”

Tourism Australia has a team based in London that looks after the UK and northern European markets.

Agents can contact Pete Mills, partnerships and distribution manager, and Ben Taprell, business development manager, at pmills@tourismaustralia.com and btaprell@tourism.australia.com.

The Aussie Specialist programme is Tourism Australia's global online training scheme.

There are also tools and resources the Aussie Specialist platform and Australia.com to provide news and updates about the recovery from the bushfires.