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Airfare wars are having an unexpected impact on trans-Pacific tourism

Airline competition on trans-Pacific services has had a drastic impact on tourism to the US, with new figures showing a larger-than-expected increase in Australian arrivals last year.

Airline competition on trans-Pacific services has had a drastic impact on tourism to the US, with new figures showing a larger-than-expected increase in Australian arrivals last year.

Preliminary international arrivals data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) showed that nearly 1.5 million Aussies travelled to the US in 2015, up 11.3 percent on the prior year.

The large growth pushed the Australian holidaymakers into the USA’s top 10 international arrivals markets, making it a valuable group for the country.

Brand USA Australia and New Zealand Director, Oliver Philpot, attributed the “well above” forecast results to increased air competition, which has resulted in “unprecedented affordability of airfares”.

For example, over the last seven months, Qantas returned to San Francisco, Air New Zealand launched flights to Houston, American Airlines kicked off services between Auckland and LA as well as Sydney and LA plus United upgraded its entire Australian fleet to the 787.

Is that everything? Did Delta do anything? Oh right, Delta appointed an Australia-based GSA to battle the competition.

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“The last 18 months have seen an onset of a range of new flight services from Australia and New Zealand, as well as intensified competition for airline market share.”

Oliver Philpot, Brand USA Australia and NZ Director

“As a result, consumers are experiencing unprecedented access to cheap flights to the USA, which is driving a trend toward repeat visitation, greater dispersal of visitors beyond the traditional USA gateways, and also travel for more frequent, shorter breaks.”

Philpot also acknowledged the impact marketing has had in the market, saying it has improved intention to travel to the US.

“We’ve been highly active in supporting the airlines with various cooperative marketing campaigns, delivered a range of impactful programs with our trade partners, grown our education of the travel agent community through the USA Discovery Program, generated unprecedented levels of editorial coverage for the USA through our media activity, and executed some creative direct to consumer promotions, all of which combined have led to improvements in intention, preference and visitation for the USA.”

“If the market continues to develop as expected, we believe the current growth will continue unabated. A series of new campaigns will be introduced into market over the coming months across multiple marketing channels, encouraging consumers to travel beyond the traditional gateways.”

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The increase in Australian arrivals has also made it possible for less-visited USA destinations such as Georgia and Idaho to build their tourism brands in Australia .

Meanwhile, Philpot says he isn’t worried about the potential impact of the falling Australian dollar, which dipped to 73 percent on Friday following the Brexit vote.

Have you experienced an increase in clients keen to cross the trans-Pacific?