Podcast
Episode 15: Make Once-in-a-Lifetime Memories with Tourism Australia
Whether you’re looking for rolling wine country hillsides or underwater coral reef kingdoms, Australia remains one of the most unique travel destinations in the world—Tourism Australia hits the mark with highlighting the country’s vast offerings.
I was thrilled to sit down during Virtuoso with Chris Allison, Vice President of Americas & New Zealand for Tourism Australia, to learn more about the initiatives the agency is currently leveraging to promote Australia as a top destination following the reopening of its borders post-pandemic. With four years under his belt in his current role, Chris comes to the table with a career’s worth of travel industry experience, and I left our conversation with a deep desire to jump on the next plane available to explore Australia for myself.
As a brand, Tourism Australia’s goal is to raise the profile of Australia as a vacation destination, as well as an events destination, with a focus on both leisure and business event segments. Success looks like leveraging partnerships and content initiatives to drive urgency and ultimately, consideration for travelers to visit the country. Their biggest competitor is, not surprisingly, New Zealand, with places like Japan, Italy, the UK, France and South Africa also vying for the same target market. Visitation numbers also pull from the same sectors, with New Zealand, China and the United States as the top countries of origin for travelers. The average length of stay is longer than you might think, coming in between 21 and 24 days.
Since reopening their borders post-pandemic, there’s been a delayed pace of aviation return. Recently, Qantas Airlines announced they will be increasing their capacity by about 15% over the next six to eight months, as well as bringing the A380 aircraft route back to Dallas and deploying the Dreamliner aircraft on the LA/Brisbane service. This will help to increase the premium seat capacity along those respective routes. North American airlines are also expanding service, with non-stop flights from San Francisco to Adelaide becoming available starting this December through United Airlines. Delta has also recently added Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne service, to much success.
The Come and Say G’day campaign, designed to reignite consumer passion for Australia as well as highlight the iconic adventures within the destination, celebrates its third year. Put simply, the campaign originated with the desire to extend a warm welcome to everyone visiting the country. It follows an animated kangaroo named Ruby as she journeys through Australia, showcasing the depth and breadth of offerings available. They are rolling out ‘Chapter 2’ in the coming months, shifting the storytelling to the lens of the traveler, as well as partnering with recognizable figures like Robert Irwin.
Something that sets Australia apart as a tourism destination is the Indigenous culture, considered the world’s oldest continuous living culture with communities that have been around for 65,000 years. Tourism Australia takes great responsibility in providing support to the indigenous voice, with a broad range of indigenous-owned, led and guided experiences across Australia. When speaking with travel advisors, they reinforce the notion that itineraries to Australia must include some element of the indigenous experience—it’s important to who they are as a country, past, present and future.
Climate is something to consider when planning a trip to the country. With one of the tropics running right through the middle of the island, a North American winter coincides with an Australian summer, although much of the country is similar to a Southern California climate year-round. Peak season is considered to be November through February, but for the more northern parts of the country, April to October is ideal. Wine lovers will want to explore South Australia, the southern parts of Victoria being more known wine regions such as the Barossa Valley, the McLaren Vale, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. For travelers looking to experience the Great Barrier Reef, then Queensland is the destination to aim for. And for those wanting full immersion in the indigenous culture, set your sights on the Northern Territory and Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park in the Red Centre region.
While Chris isn’t allowed to play favorites, he does think Tasmania is having a moment in the spotlight as an up-and-coming destination. Check out the globally-recognized craft distilling scene following a mountainous hike in Cradle Mountain National Park in the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Australian cities like Sydney and Melbourne offer incredible entertainment and arts scenes. Byron Bay in the northern part of New South Wales is more of a bohemian urban environment. Tourism Australia leans on partnerships with travel advisors to help guests navigate the complex trip planning process for what are often once-in-a-lifetime trips to the country. They invest heavily in their destination training program to equip advisors with tools necessary to truly sell an authentic Australian experience. This includes yearly immersion trips with upwards of 200 global advisors, as well as a LUX program with about 100 highly vetted luxury travel advisors for extensive engagement with the high-end offerings and products in the country.
“Australia is not a place you see, it’s a place you feel.”
We finished our conversation with LTI’s signature rapid fire questions. For personal travel, Chris is heading to Mammoth with his sister and nieces for a few days. When reminiscing about travel in the past, Chris misses no wifi on planes, which facilitated stretches of time for true relaxation and disconnection. Looking ahead, Chris thinks contactless security in airports would greatly improve the travel process, with advances creating a more secure and seamless experience from start to finish.
Thank you, Chris, for joining me on this episode of Luxury Travel Innovators, available to listen to and watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.
