Welcome to the International Video Portal, Tourism Australia’s video initiative to provide the latest market knowledge and insights direct from the marketplace.

Once every two weeks and in rotation, Tourism Australia’s Regional General Managers and Regional Managers in the UK, Europe, North Asia, Americas, South East Asia, New Zealand and Japan will provide the latest and most relevant market specific information for you to understand the latest trends and help identify new business opportunities.

In this latest video Katherine Droga, Tourism Australia's Regional General Manager for Continental Europe, reports on European market performance and the importance of travel agent training from Corroboree Europe 2011, held in Darwin.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.

Key markets in Europe show continuing declines in arrivals during 2011. It is proving to be another challenging year for the region with continued economic weakness in the region, which is impacting on consumer sentiment. Increasing package and ground costs (due to the strong Australian dollar) and rising airfares (due to fuel surcharges) are also affecting Australia’s competitive position against other destinations.

The United Kingdom’s performance remains in decline, with arrivals down 4.6 per cent year to date 2011. Leisure arrivals from Continental Europe are also weak, with holiday segments down in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy year to date 2011. However, business travel continues to show growth from the United Kingdom and Germany.

Economically, the Euro Zone continues to suffer debt servicing Issues and the economic situation in the United Kingdom remains challenging.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.

The North American market has been soft in calendar year 2010, while Latin America is performing well. Leisure arrivals from the US and Canada have declined against 2009, however the business sector is bouncing back across USA, Canada and Brazil.

For calendar year 2010, total US arrivals were down 1.6 per cent. The market has seen leisure arrivals drop back (holiday down 9 per cent and VFR down 4 per cent) against strong results in 2009, where low airfares drove a surge in the leisure segment, especially youth. In 2010, airfares rose, affecting the youth market, which declined somewhat in 2010. Calendar year 2010 arrivals from Canada were down 1 per cent on last year. Holiday (representing nearly half of the market) was down 8 per cent, although VFR was up 5 per cent. The strong Canadian dollar is going further in other holiday destinations other than Australia, affecting Australia’s competitive position.

The strong Australia dollar is also driving Australians to travel abroad, affecting the availability of seats for US visitors to Australia. Outbound travel from the US and Canada is up, however Australia is losing to better value competitor destinations such as Europe and Asia. Average airfares to Australia from North America have risen from record lows in 2009 and are more expensive than key competitors.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.

The New Zealand market performed well in calendar year 2010 with total arrivals showing a solid five per cent growth against 2009. The leisure and business segments did well but whilst overall business arrivals were up, business travel was not for conference and convention purposes.

The growth in arrivals for 2010 was driven by the holiday segment, representing 40 per cent of arrivals and up four per cent on the previous year. This was due to the prevalence of low cost airfares for Australia. Whilst travel to Australia is increasing, New Zealanders also continue to be sensitive to price. The growth in aviation capacity during 2009 and 2010 also helped stimulate growth in the market.

Business travel, representing 18 per cent of arrivals, was up nine per cent for 2010. However, conference and convention arrivals were down four per cent for the same period against 2009. New Zealand businesses were not committing to conferences and conventions during the global financial crisis and we are now seeing the results of lower figures for this segment 12 to 18 months later. The trade feedback indicates that the planning cycle now appears to be getting shorter for this segment.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.
 

For the three months to March 2011 arrivals from China grew by 23.2% however declines were seen from South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. For further details download the latest Quarterly Market Update.

The market outlook for this region for the second quarter 2011 is mixed. April to June is a traditionally low season for travel out of this region so during this period Tourism Australia will run marketing activities to stimulate intention to travel in preparation for the peak summer season.

The Tourism Australia and Tourism Queensland joint Queensland recovery campaign is currently underway in all North Asia markets. This includes a radio promotion and the second phase of the There’s Nothing Like Australia campaign in China with airline co-operative campaigns. Co-operative marketing campaigns are also happening in South Korea with Tourism Queensland and Tourism Victoria separately. TA also has a travelogue program on Australia in Hong Kong, complimented by a co-operative campaign with Cathay Pacific Holidays. In Taiwan a cooperative campaign with China Airlines was run in March and April with a second phase beginning in May.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update. 

Maggie White, Tourism Australia's Regional General Manager, South/South East Asia & Gulf discusses the factors driving leisure and incentive travel from Indonesia.

Visitor arrivals from Indonesia are up 12.2% in the first four months of 2011 compared to the same period in the previous year. This follows strong growth from the market in 2010 (+14%).

The increase in visitors is due largely to the strong economic growth and positive consumer sentiment in Indonesia coupled with streamlined visa application processes.

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.

Industry update from Japan (updated 12 April 2011)

It has now been one month since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Northern Japan. The northeast is recovering from the natural disaster while experiencing aftershocks and the uncertainty of radiation leakage from the local nuclear power plants. However, Western Japanese is not impacted at all and businesses are operating as usual. Tourism Australia will continue to monitor the situation with close contact with the Japanese outbound tourism industry. We will constantly update the Australian industry on the expected impacts on inbound tourism from Japan.

Impact on Australian travel
To monitor the impacts on inbound business caused by the disaster, Tourism Australia Japan has conducted ongoing surveys with key Japanese tourism industry partners. For the three months of March to May, it is estimated 5,500 travellers cancelled their trips to Australia. Agents revealed that for these three months, travel to Australia has dropped 40% compared to the same three months last year.

Travel agents
Major travel agent businesses have returned to normal operations. From this week they have resumed promotion of holidays, including overseas travel, through newspaper advertising, retail promotions or direct mail.

Media
TV programs and newspaper have returned to “usual” programming or page layouts and major companies have started to advertise again.

Airlines
Qantas flights from Narita continue to operate via Hong Kong with amended schedule times.

Visit by the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister, The Hon. Julia Gillard MP, will be visiting Tokyo for four days from 20 April. On 22 April, a goodwill dinner is planned and Tourism Australia will be inviting Japanese trade VIPs and media to the event.

Tourism Australia marketing activity
The following marketing activities are planned by Tourism Australia and partners.

> Retail agent famil with Japan Association of Travel Agents to NSW, QLD and NT from mid May

> Queensland recovery campaign from mid May with key wholesalers

> School teachers seminar in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka in June

Read the latest visitor arrivals data.

Read the latest Quarterly Market Update.