Tourism Australia’s biggest annual trade event, the Australian Tourism Exchange 2023 (ATE23), has officially opened on the Gold Coast, with around 2,300 delegates participating in the mega event at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
After running a smaller, hybrid show in Sydney for the past two years, ATE has returned to its traditional full format for the first time since 2019, with 623 buyers and 80 international media from 32 countries in town to chat through an estimated 45,000 appointments happening over four days.
Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said the first full ATE in years was an important milestone for the Australian tourism industry as it continues to rebuild off the back of the most challenging few years in its history.
“International travellers are returning to our shores, but the competition for the global tourism dollar is now greater than ever before, which is why business-to-business events, such as ATE, are so important,” Ms Harrison said.
Speaking at a media presentation on the opening day, Ms Harrison was keen to stress that while there were many positives, Australia still remains in recovery mode, with a lack of airline capacity continuing to be a significant pain point for returning international source markets.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Chinese short-term arrivals totalled 40,430 in February 2023, which was one-fifth or 35 per cent fewer arriving visitors from February in the record year of 2019.
Within the host state, Queensland’s $200 million aviation investment fund, announced in February last year, will, it’s hoped, help aid Tourism Australia’s universal recovery as more Asian carriers return and increase capacity to connect more of the world down under.
The good news right now, though, said Ms Harrison, is that in January and February of this year, holidaymakers outpaced visiting friends and relatives (VFR), “We are seeing those crucial leisure and business holidaymakers starting to come back to Australia in their droves.”
Though still only early days, Ms Harrison also spoke of the already above-forecasted success of Tourism Australia’s International ‘Come and Say ‘G’day’ campaign launched in October last year.
“This is a long-term campaign for us, and we will be sticking with Ruby. She still has a big job to do around the world, but early days, things are looking good.
“We look at our brand health, and we know that the campaign has made a difference to the people who have seen the campaign versus the people who haven’t,” said Ms Harrison.
Traveller trends to take forward
Talking to traveller trends, the below insights were highlighted as significant opportunities for inbound and domestic tourism to Australia.
- Health concerns have shifted to wealth concerns
- The premium and luxury sector continues to boom
- Purposeful travel – feel-good travel is also highly desired
- The appetite for nature, wellness, and adventure experiences continues
- The way we work has changed – digital nomads want to stay longer and combine ‘bleisure’ in a destination
- Inclusive and accessible travel is now estimated to be worth $13.5 billion in Australia alone
- Travellers are now ‘always on discovery travel planning’ via social media, especially on mobile
- Technology has reached an inflexion point with Chat GPT changing the game
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said the whole State was ready to welcome ATE delegates in another important step forward in our global recovery.
“The industry has continued to invest whilst borders were closed. As a result, we have opened to the world with billions of dollars of new infrastructure, products and experiences that have been completed or under construction across the State.
“We welcome the 2,300 delegates to the Gold Coast and Queensland and know they will leave with strong business partnerships and memorable moments shared exploring our state.”
Meanwhile, Destination Gold Coast Interim CEO Karen Bolinger said the Gold Coast has recently transformed into one of the nation’s most vibrant destinations.
“ATE will be our time to really shine and showcase to the world a rejuvenated Gold Coast as delegates experience first-hand every flavour of our city that we enjoy every single day.”
For more on ATE2023, head to www.events.tourism.australia.com/ate23
