Northern exposure
Region taking centre stage at tourism expo
Next week’s Australian Tourism Exchange event will be an opportunity for some Far North businesses to reaquaint themselves with the market and others to introduce themselves for the first time. Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close said the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region, with 60 local operators exhibiting, would be the strongest regional contingent at the Adelaide event.
NEXT week’s Australian Tourism Exchange event will be an opportunity for some Far North businesses to reaquaint themselves with the market and others to introduce themselves for the first time.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close said the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region would be the strongest regional contingent at the Adelaide event.
Sixty local operators are expected to take part in the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef display and another 16 were with national brand exhibits.
“Tourism Australia is expecting 700 key travel trade delegates from more than 30 countries to attend the 2018 event on April 15-19 at the Adelaide Convention Centre,” Ms Close said.
“We will conduct 200 trade appointments for both the Eastern and the Western markets over four days.
“TTNQ will introduce our European representative Julia Rohrbacher to agents looking to plan their 2019 itineraries for the consumer market.
“We have more than 40 new products to talk about and will be taking some local secrets with us to further drive repeat visitation and grow length of stay.”
Frankland Islands Reef Cruises owner Elouise Collins took over the business with her husband in late 2016 and said this year’s expo was the first time the tourist experience had been brought to the attention of global stakeholders in several years.
Ms Collins said French, Italian, German and Spanishspeaking tours meant the European market was the source of most of her customers.
“There is the other side too, which is the emerging markets, which we would like to tap into,” Ms Collins said.
“One per cent of our bookings are from the US and the UK and we would like to see that pick up.”
Heralded in the Far North but relatively unknown, Crystalbrook Collection sales director George Beeby will attend the expo to shine a spotlight on the region’s newest luxury accommodation portfolio.
“For us it’s about showcasing Crystalbrook globally as well as engaging and connecting with select travel partners,” Mr Beeby said.
Ms Close said the Great Barrier Reef would continue to be the region’s strongest selling point, but “we will be talking about the breadth of experiences available”.
“ATE 18 is our most important opportunity to sell Cairns and Great Barrier Reef to the international market and our team thrives on this challenge,” she said.