Tourism Australia and Virgin Australia have signed major new marketing deal.
Under the new arrangement, the two parties intend to collectively spend AU$6 million (US$5.9 million) over the next three years on a range of joint marketing activities focusing primarily on the USA, New Zealand, the UK, Europe and the fast-growing Asian markets of China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Singapore.
The arrangement will feature marketing on traditional and digital media platforms as well as event and sponsorship activities, principally targeting the US – Australia’s fourth largest source market for visitor arrivals.
Tourism Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy commented; “Neither Tourism Australia nor the airlines alone can do all the heavy lifting to promote affordable and ‘must now’ travel from overseas visitors to our country.
“In today’s global village – with unprecedented destination competition – arrangements such as this with Virgin Australia and their global alliance partners is a massive value-add, and so important to better sell Australia.
“Virgin Australia continues to increase capacity across a number of Tourism Australia’s core markets, either directly or through alliances with Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines. The airline also operates an extensive domestic and Trans Tasman network and is therefore a key partner we want to work more closely with to leverage more visitors to see why there is nothing like Australia.
“As with previous airline deals, we intend to use our well-established and successful there’s nothing like Australia campaign messaging alongside Virgin Australia’s compelling brand and competitive airfares, to drive bookings and traffic,” he added.
Virgin Australia’s CEO John Borghetti commented; “As a result of our growing international operations and our recently formed alliances with four of the world’s leading airlines Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, Virgin Australia is now a serious player in the inbound tourism market.
“In conjunction with our partners, we have the ability to access international visitors from over 400 cities around the world and provide them with a seamless journey to domestic and regional destinations across Australia. The alliances give us access to both traditional and emerging markets, which aligns with Tourism Australia’s marketing strategy.
“This includes key international growth markets such as Asia and the Middle East, which are forecast to be the two largest contributors to international passenger growth going forward, as well as strong established markets such as New Zealand, the United States and Europe.
“Virgin Australia is committed to working with its partners and Tourism Australia to achieve strong international visitor growth for Australia.”
McEvoy said the deal would help Tourism Australia achieve its ‘Tourism 2020’ strategic goal of doubling annual overnight visitor expenditure to up to AU$140 billion by the end of the decade.
The deal forms Tourism Australia’s previous airline tie-ups, including those with Qantas, Jetstar and Singapore Airlines.
