ATE ‘05 Focuses On Quality Rather Than Quantity Via Global Destination Partnership

Ian Jarrett - Perth

Rob Gurney (L), Qantas head of sales & marketing along with Scott Morrison on the new global sponsorship deal between QF and TA

Australia sharpened its focus on China at the Australian Tourism Exchange 2005 in Perth but tourism executives were keen to point out that India was not being relegated to an also-ran status. During the recently concluded ATE 2005, Tourism Australia released a new corporate plan which establishes the goal of reaching A$ 22.1 billion in international visitor spend by 2007-2008 - an increase of more than 25 per cent on the figures achieved in 2003-2004.

Tourism Australia MD, Scott Morrison, said the emphasis would be on quality rather than quantity. "We need to focus on increasing the total spend of our visitors rather than just increasing the number of international travellers," said Morrison. Helping to spread Tourism Australia's quality message will be a three-year global destination partnership between TA and Qantas worth more than A$60 million, the partnership will operate in 12 Australian markets, including India.

Elaborating on the India market, Maggie White, Tourism Australia regional manager (South & South East Asia), said that arrivals from India last year had jumped 18 per cent to 55,000 and further growth of 10 per cent was expected this year. The numbers from India compare with 220,000 arrivals from China in 2004 with forecast of 960,000 visitors in 2013.

White said that India was a very different proposition from China because Australia has ADS (Approved Destination Status) for outbound travellers from several Chinese cities and regions. "This allows us to be very targeted. We know where to market," she said. White also mentioned that, "In India, Tourism Australia is spending a lot of energy to identify where the business is coming from, and we will continue to focus our efforts on the front line cities and some secondary cities. We just don't have the budget to work in all cities. However, we will position ourselves to attract the top-end of the market, and a particular focus will continue to be on upscale family groups and honeymooners."

White said that the working closely with travel agents, especially on visa issues, had been a great success. "It's been the quietest I've known for visa complaints during the peak travel period from April to June this year," she added.

Tourism Australia has been working with its preferred Aussie Specialist agents. More than 60 of them have completed a visa course run in conjunction with Australia's Department of Immigration. This has speeded up the visa application process and helped to identify specific problems.

"This has been a very positive partnership," said White. "It shows what can be achieved by giving agents a role in the visa process. It's helped to increase the professionalism of the agents on one hand, while the Department of Immigration in Canberra has been so impressed with the results that it wants the India example to become a model which it will roll out around the world."

Hopes that Australian Airlines, the Qantas-owned full-service leisure carrier, will enter the routes remaining on the radar screen "but that's where they will stay for the time being," said Australian Airlines CEO, Andrea Staines. The carrier will take delivery of its sixth aircraft late next year but has yet to make a decision on where it will be deployed.

Another Qantas subsidiary, low-cost domestic operator Jetstar, has signaled that it will launch services to Asia, although CEO Alan Joyce is refusing to name specific destinations to be targeted. Celia Ho, Tourism Victoria's regional manager South Asia, said Victoria would be making a special effort in India to promote the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March ‘06. “India is a huge emerging market for Australia in the mid to long-term," said Ho.

On the agents front, Sudhir Patil, director of Mumbai-based Kesari Tours, said his company is currently taking small group tours to Australia and there was potential to expand operations.

"One challenge is that the Indian traveller does not plan well in advance, therefore we have trouble getting seats on internal flights in Australia," concluded Patil.