Australian tourism is gaining significant momentum for recovery, surviving two of its biggest challenges this year by resisting the tendency to “go dark” in the early months of the pandemic.
The double blow of being hit by Covid 19 impacts almost immediately after bushfires ravaged many popular tourist destinations presented the country with deep challenges. But a responsive plan has resulted in, among other things, robust network growth in travel consultants for the industry worth A$126 billion (US$89.1 billion).
Campaigns like Live From Aus in May, a live-streamed programme of virtual travel experiences to inspire the next Australian holiday, generated about 34 million online views in some 40 countries.
Tourism Australia (TA) also almost tripled the number of travel agents who went through their Aussie Specialist Program training to 80,000 agents in the last financial year, compared to 30,000 in a normal year.
“Obviously, in the panic phase, we did pause everything when the consumer sentiment wasn’t there,” TA’s executive general manager commercial, Robin Mack, told attendees at Australia’s luxury business exchange event Luxperience.
“But as you get into that restricted movement, and people were locked down as some still are in that dreaming phase, (people) can really absorb the content and we wanted to make sure we stayed as relevant as possible”.
With borders likely to remain closed to international visitors till late 2021, TA’s post-bushfire campaign appealing to locals to Holiday Here This Year has been evolving to meet current conditions, as some interstate borders remain closed or limited.
“(The campaign) is almost a call to arms and a behaviour change,” said Mack. “Already, over A$80 billion is spent domestically by Australians (including) 85 million room nights or overnight stays. But our big opportunity for that domestic market is getting the 9.6 million that go overseas to holiday in Australia.”
With restrictions beginning to ease, TA launched a new A$7 million campaign this week, headlined by Australian celebrity couple Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake, aimed at driving that domestic market to book not just hotels but experiences.
In the meantime, expecting that a trans-Tasman Covid-safe travel zone will soon be in place, Australia and New Zealand are also targeting each others’ markets and preparing for the luxury sector to be the first to fly.
“From a premium travel viewpoint, I think the luxury sector in New Zealand is underestimated from an Australian visitor perspective, so we’re looking forward to sharing and growing that segment,” said Tourism New Zealand general manager for Australia, Andrew Waddel.
“Ultimately, we believe that across the two markets, there are circa 10 million trips that won’t happen overseas or internationally and we think getting New Zealanders and Australians to travel locally as well as across the Tasman is not only a great way of connecting as people but also (encouraging) that regeneration in travel,” he continued.
Luxperience today concludes four days of meetings and educational talks as a fully virtual event for the first time with 640 delegates, an increase from past physical events which on average saw 600 buyers, media and exhibitors participating.
Firefly Airlines will start jet operations from 1Q2021, as part of parent Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG)’s revamped long-term business plan, with a focus on strengthening the revenue streams of each subsidiary as its premium carrier brand Malaysia Airlines (MAB) teeter on the brink.
Under the plan, Firefly will add up to 10 narrow body jets to its fleet in phases, serving the domestic, South-east Asia and Asia-Pacific markets out of Penang International Airport.
The low-cost carrier will be complementing sister company MAB in serving the leisure market, while diversifying its base connecting secondary cities in Malaysia to East Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
It will leverage on available resources and talents from within MAG, with the possibility of deploying the Boeing 737-800 aircraft from MAB. This will give the national carrier room to focus on its network serving the premium market, according to MAG.
MAG CEO Izham Ismail said: “Based on available forecasts, domestic and short-haul travel will be most preferred in the current environment, hence, it makes commercial sense for Firefly to supply this demand from the northern region. This is in line with the group’s enhanced Long-Term Business Plan, which has been realigned to suit the current and future environment post-Covid-19, with a focus on strengthening the revenue streams of each subsidiary.”
With the new jet operations, Firefly will offer a flexible service concept, with product unbundling to suit the leisure-focused and price-sensitive customers, providing a more significant value proposition.
The setup of Firefly’s Penang hub jet operations will require minimal investment by MAG in 2021, with an expected increase in production, measured in average seat per kilometre, by 36 per cent over the next five years, MAG said.