Agents say g'day to Sydney and New South Wales
Over 200 UK agents were transported from the beach to the bush to the Sydney Opera House as they met with top suppliers from Sydney and New South Wales (NSW) at the Destination NSW UK & Europe Roadshow 2018 in Manchester and London.
Fifteen tourism organisations were in attendance at the May events, including: AEA Luxury/Mount 'N Beach Safaris & Oz Whale Watching, Arts Hotel Sydney, Bear Rentals, BridgeClimb Sydney, Byron Bay and Beyond, Hunter Valley Resort, LUXICO, Merlin Entertainments, Minor Hotels, Opera Australia, Park Hyatt Sydney, Scenic World Blue Mountains, Sydney Opera House, Sydney - Melbourne Touring and Taronga Zoo, with agents able to visit during the course of a speed-dating style format.
Adam Marshall, NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events said: " The UK and European Trade Roadshow is all about tapping into key international markets and continuing to put NSW in the global spotlight." He added: "This is one of the many initiatives the NSW Government is doing to boost tourism, and with NSW being the number one destination in Australia for international visitors, there’s no denying that our hard work is paying dividends."
Tak f h
Qantas, the official airline partner for the roadshow, operates a new London-Sydney service, via Singapore, in addition to the new non-stop UK to Australia flight which has numerous onward connections to Sydney. Markus Svensson, Regional General Manager UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa said: "We have a strong relationship with our trade partners; they play an important role in helping us raise awareness about Australia and encouraging more visitors to travel with Qantas to Sydney and New South Wales."
A fi f u t
Last year, NSW welcomed more than 381,000 visitors from the UK, who injected over £500 million into the state's economy. With this as the backdrop, agents were keen to make new contacts and learn more about the destination.
Brandon Ives, from Bear Rentals, a company that offers 4WD campervan hire and rental in Australia, said: “These roadshows have been really successful for bringing existing and new products together to promote the beauty of Sydney and the state beyond. Bear Rentals is a new product
so it’s been great to make agents aware of what we offer so that they can recommend something new and exciting to their clients.”
Mark Reid, from Travel Counsellors, said: “I think the format of the event works really well. It’s nice to be able to talk in small groups and have my questions addressed by people that are actually supplying the services. They are passionate about the destination and that makes you excited about selling their products.”
Pri ve
Prizes on the night included two return Economy flights to Sydney, courtesy of Qantas, to experience some of NSW’s best tourist attractions.
Flight Centre's Georgia Turner was the winner of a trip to Sydney and NSW. She said: “I’ve wanted to go to Australia for so long, so this is a dream come true.
"It was worth coming tonight even before winning, but knowing that I’m going to visit some of the places I’ve learnt about has really topped it off.” destinationnsw.com.au