Tourism Australia is building on the momentum of recent growth in US visitor numbers to Australia by showcasing Australia’s destination appeal at this year’s 10th anniversary of G’day USA 2013.
US visitor numbers to Australia grew steadily over 2012, with a more than four percent increase in the calendar year to October and eight percent growth in the month of October compared with the same month the prior year. Further, International Visitor Survey data showed US visitor expenditure grew 12 percent in the year to September to over $2.3 billion.
Tourism Australia’s Vice President, the Americas, Jane Whitehead, said: “These numbers are encouraging and show that more Americans are recognizing Australia’s many attractions as a vacation destination.
“We are seeing particularly high growth in the target segment that is the primary focus of our marketing efforts, the 45 years + affluent traveler. This segment grew 12 percent in visitor numbers, 23 percent in expenditure and spent 26 percent more nights exploring Australia’s many attractions beyond the gateway cities,” Mrs. Whitehead said.
“Australia is also being increasingly recognized as a premier destination for business events. In the year to October, convention and conference visitors from the US to Australia rose 30 percent.”
The improvement in arrivals comes as Tourism Australia has undertaken a major investment in the North American market with the latest evolution of its ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ campaign across broadcast, print, digital and social channels.
Mrs Whitehead said ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ is resonating with Americans, “With this campaign, we are leading with some of the best experiences we have to offer and showcasing why, whatever you may be looking for from a vacation, you will find it in Australia.”
“This week we will also kick off a four month campaign with Qantas that will build on the momentum we are seeing,” said Mrs Whitehead.
Australia is also attracting many high profile Americans. On The Ellen Degeneres Show this week, Ellen announced that she will be heading to Melbourne and Sydney. With Swisse Wellness ambassador Nicole Kidman, she told 400 of her excited audience members that they would also be offered trips to Australia. The trips are a joint initiative of Swisse and Qantas Airways.
“Ellen has a strong following in the US and will do a fantastic job in shining the media spotlight on the country, just as Oprah did in 2010,” Mrs Whitehead said.
“As with Oprah, she’ll be sending a big audience to Australia and the Australian tourism industry will reap the benefits as those people explore the delights of Sydney and Melbourne.”
Mrs Whitehead said the initiative was a huge win for Australia as recent consumer research undertaken by BDA Marketing Planning for Tourism Australia showed that once Americans visited Australia, they rated it top amongst all destinations on many factors that influence their choice of vacation destination.
“While Australia is generally recognized by Americans as having outstanding natural beauty, great beaches, friendly people and unique wildlife, the research showed that Americans that visited Australia were surprised to discover the exceptional standard of the country’s food and wine and rich native heritage and activities and in fact found it led the world in these areas.”
As part of its strategy to support the US travel industry in marketing and selling Australia effectively, Tourism Australia this week ran an inaugural two-day Tourism Summit as part of the G’Day USA program and in partnership with Destination NSW, the South Australia Tourism Commission, Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Victoria and Qantas Airways.
The event was attended by around 115 travel industry leaders who came to hear insights from dozens of experts from leading travel and related brands including American Express, Google, Facebook, Travel Channel and Afar on a range of topics from consumer behaviour to infrastructure changes and digital and social media strategy.
For more information on Australia’s recent research and marketing programs visit www.tourism.australia.com and for destination information visit www.australia.com
