The 16th edition of Tourism Australia’s India Travel Mission (ITM) held in Jaipur recently reaffirmed that the India market has given the destination an unprecedented response. The spotlight during ITM 2018 was on Signature Experiences
The 16th edition of Tourism Australia’s India Travel Mission (ITM) which was recently held in Jaipur, proved to be a meeting of minds to both discover and undiscover the world in the southern hemisphere. ITM 2018 brought together 75 Australian tourism businesses to meet with 87 travel retailers from India in over 6,500 business appointments over three days. The event witnessed participation from 14 first time seller participants and 20 buyer companies.
ITM enables Australian tourism product suppliers such as hotels, airlines, state and regional tourism boards and attractions to secure future business to further grow tourism opportunity for Australia in India. The spotlight during ITM 2018 was on Signature Experiences –a collection which offers an exciting, invigorating and diverse range of travel options including Australian Wildlife Collection, Great Golf Courses of Australia, Great Walks of Australia, Luxury Lodges of Australia and the Ultimate Winery Experiences of Australia.
Brent Anderson, regional general manager, South & South East Asia, Tourism Australia (TA) attributes the success story to the camaraderie between the two countries. This is something that cannot be explained and it clearly reflects in the business. He feels the local team of TA is undoubtedly their strength. “India is a significant market for Australia and has been seeing a very encouraging growth trend. The introduction of Signature Experiences, the participation of new products showcasing at ITM this year and commitment of tourism suppliers who have been investing in India over the past decade is a cohesive effort to bring top selection of Australian tourism experiences to Indian High Value Travellers (HVTs). We are grateful to have received the unstinted support of the Indian and Australian tourism industry to make ITM 2018 a success,” stated Anderson.
Commenting on ITM 2018, Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia said, “ITM 2018 has the largest ever delegation of Australian tourism suppliers and that speaks volumes of the potential of India as a key inbound market for Australia. Our focus for the year is to sustain the growth in arrivals and drive yield through our strategic trade and consumer initiatives. After achieving the 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors, three years ahead of the target date, our ambitions are fueled to go bigger and achieve higher milestones”.
In addition to ITM, the distribution strategy of TA includes an enriched trade engagement programme. One of the pioneers of the online destination training initiative – The Aussie Specialist Programme, TA has recruited over 5,700 travel agents across India. TA has embraced technology for their trade outreach, while the certified Aussie Specialists have special access to a resourceful online toolkit to sell Australian holidays, trade partners are regularly engaged through webinars and e-newsletters. TA has also been working closely with key distribution partners to reward top performing agents and provides opportunities for select frontline staff and product teams to have a first-hand experience of Australia through their global trade events like Corroboree and the Australian Tourism Exchange.
India is currently Australia’s fastest growing inbound tourism market recording a double-digit growth in arrival and spend for the fourth consecutive year. Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 19.6 per cent for the year ended June 2018 with an influx of 335,100 visitors, compared to same period last year, making India the eighth largest inbound market for Australia.
New marketing campaign #UnDiscover Australia
It is a launch of new bespoke campaign that challenges prevalent stereotypes about Australia. TA has launched the campaign for India and South East Asia. The latest chapter in TA’s evolving ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ campaign, UnDiscover Australia specifically targets high value travellers in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The campaign challenges perceptions and stereotypes of what Australia offers as a tourism destination by showcasing unusual, unfamiliar and unexpected attractions and experiences. It is being backed by Australia’s state and territory tourism organisations, airlines, and a range of other key distribution partners.
India is currently Australia’s fastest growing market for arrivals and spend, achieving a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Whilst there is high awareness, aspiration and intention to visit Australia, potential travellers perceive Australia to be one-dimensional in terms of tourism experiences. To sustain growth in arrivals and yield, and make Australia more desirable, the campaign seeks to entice Indian travellers by providing a more multidimensional understanding of Australia’s high-quality experiences, showcasing the journey of Bollywood actor and Friend of Australia, Parineeti Chopra. The campaign plays on some of the prevalent misconceptions about Australia highlighted by research carried out in the region, showing that there is much more to Australia than the typical stereotypes of beaches, cute and furry animals and popular icons.
Kashikar said, “This campaign will shine a spotlight on some of our undiscovered and hidden holiday gems, showing there’s much more to an Australian holiday for Indians in addition to experiencing our well-known icons. Yes, you can watch a game of cricket at the magnificent Adelaide Oval, but are people aware that they can also do an amazing rooftop climb offering 360 views of the city? Or that there are plentiful immersive experiences amidst untouched natural landscapes in close proximity to our vibrant cities. It’s surprising experiences such as these that we will be seeking to highlight through this campaign.”
The UnDiscover Australia campaign will be executed in two phases in India – September to November and January to April, to coincide with the holiday planning periods for the peak travel season during the year-end and Indian summer respectively. The media exposure for the campaign will be across digital, including social, search, programmatic and display, and broadcast mediums across select genres. The campaign will also be amplified during the India’s cricket tour of Australia, and through various public relations and international media hosting programmes, as part of which influencers and advocates will continue to UnDiscover Australia, thereby offering compelling reasons to consumers to plan their next holiday to the land down under. The campaign page can be viewed at Australia.com/undiscover.