Australia Scoops Top Consumer Show Awards…Again

The Australian Tourist Commission’s (ATC) professionalism and creativity in marketing was recognized last weekend with the announcement that Australia had won the Best Booth Design in the NTO Category at both the NATAS (National Association of Travel Agencies of Singapore) and GITF (Guangzhou International Trade Fair) Travel Fairs.

This year marked the sixth consecutive win for Australia at NATAS and the third consecutive win at GITF.

Speaking following the events, Regional Director, Asia, Mr Richard Beere said, “the awards are a great achievement and a recognition of the effort and ability of our state and industry partners to creatively promote Australia.“

“We have done a tremendous amount of research into what Singaporean and Chinese travellers want from a trip to Australia and this year the theme of each booth reflected the various triggers for a holiday to Australia.

“The mindset of the Singaporean traveller is moving from that of a ‘look see’ tourist to a more participatory traveller.

“As such, a chance to experience in fun and discover easy natural adventures within minutes of Australia’s cosmopolitan cities was brought to life at the NATAS booth through interactive games and appearances from Singapore’s leading radio DJs.”

Six State Tourism Offices and nearly 60 tourism operators from Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria represented Australia at NATAS, marking the country’s strongest presence to date at Singapore’s premier consumer travel fair.

Meanwhile in Guangzhou, the ATC in conjunction with Tourism Victoria, Qantas Airways, and Ansett Australia created a colourful booth with restaurant style counters to highlight ‘eat, drink, play, fun’, the ingredients that ATC research shows the Guangzhou traveller enjoys. Fairy Penguins and Goldrush-era characters representing major Victorian tourism attractions showcased fresh Australian food and beverages and staged numerous on-site puzzles and games.

Latest year ending preliminary arrival figures show that the number of Singaporean visitors rose 3.1 percent to 276,000 visitors while the number of Chinese visitors to Australia jumped 34 percent to 124,400.