Singapore Airlines (SQ) and the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) recently launched a new promotional campaign aimed at increasing tourist arrivals to Australia. The regional promotion, ‘Enjoy Australia with Singapore Airlines’, targets visitors from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India and China, and follows hot on the heels of an earlier successful global campaign - SIA Fabulous Offer.

Richard Beere

“Initiatives like these play a timely and important role in restoring public confidence in air travel. We are excited to be working with the ATC to encourage travel to one of SIA’s most important markets. As the largest foreign carriers in Australia, SIA will continue to be a significant contributor to the growth of Australian tourism, and we look forward to forge this strong partnership with the ATC,” said Huang Cheng Eng, SQ’s executive vice-president marketing and the regions.

“This new campaign is another example of the ongoing co-operation between Singapore Airlines and ATC under our formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It was made possible by the provision of A$10m additional funding from the Australian minister of tourism to the ATC and forms a key part of the total A$20m worth of new campaigns to revive international arrivals to Australia. It is also part of ATC’s new Asian campaign under the theme ‘Australia - You are Welcome’, which rolls out in Asia and Japan over the next three months to reinforce the Australia’s number one attribute- its warm and friendly people,” said Richard Beere, executive general manager, Asia and Japan, ATC.

The Enjoy Australia with Singapore Airlines promotion offers customers the chance to visit Australia at special fares. The tickets will go on sale from July onwards. The campaign will be publicised primarily through promotional television spots on the Discovery Channels and online publicity on the MSN network, and is expected to reach a total of 90 million consumers in the target markets.

The Enjoy Australia with Singapore Airlines promotion will also be enhanced by an online quiz on Australia that can be found on the website www.australia.singaporeair.com. Participants stand a chance to win SIA Raffles (business) class tickets to any SQ destination in Australia, with a five-night stay at a five-star hotel. The online contest will run from 30 June 2003 to 17 August 2003. Visitor information on Australia will also be available on the website from 30 June 2003 until 21 September 2003.

As part of its business recovery programme, SQ has been working with regional tourism authorities to revive demand for air travel. Together with local industry partners, it has also been actively involved in hosting numerous foreign media and trade groups in promoting travel in the region.