Masterchef & Masterstroke: Oz calls
From a new marketing campaign to hosting the Cricket World Cup and registering rise in arrivals from India, Australia is definitely on everyone’s mind. gets details on their marketing efforts and promotional strategies.
Soaring arrivals and booming business defined the celebratory mood at Tourism Australia’s India Travel Mission ( ITM) 2014. This annual trade event for desti-
“We have a lot to celebrate, starting with a record growth in arrivals from India. The holiday segment that grew by almost 30 per cent drove this growth. We are now back in the league of top 10 markets for Australia, ranked 10th as a source market for visitors’ arrivals and 11th in terms of their expenditure. Another reason to celebrate is that the India Travel Mission has the highest participation compared to the previous years; we have almost 150 delegates, 55 from Australia and 95 from India and the Gulf,” says Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia.
In 2013, India was Australia’s 11th largest inbound market for visitor arrivals and total expenditure, and the sixth largest market for visitor nights. Tourism Australia witnessed 17,000 visitors from India during June 2014, bringing the total for the six months to June to 99,500, an increase of 19.3 per cent relative to the same period previous year. A high proportion of Indian visitors visited Australia was for leisure, and the holiday segment drove these numbers. “We sell the country as a mixed portfolio; while we will always be predominantly driven by leisure, we are also looking for people who want to explore the place a bit more and get that yield. A third pillar that we are very keen to explore is the convention and event space,” says Michael Newcombe, General Manager, South /South East Asia & Gulf Countries, Tourism Australia.
In 2015, Australia will offer a unique set of opportunities, especially with the Cricket World Cup around the corner. “Among the key highlights of the event is the launch of the Restaurant Australia campaign and the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015,” adds Newcombe. In terms of commitment from the Australia, “India has the second largest budget after China, and we see India as a very important market,” he highlights.
Rolling out this campaign, Newcombe adds, “We are now placing Australia as the culinary capital of the world and our focus will be to showcase all the gastronomic experiences that Australia has to offer”, continuing that, “This campaign Restaurant Australia is about produce, people and place. It’s about the experience that comes with the meal and will run for 12-18 months.”