Tourism Australia and SIA’s MoU takes flight

Tourism Australia and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at promoting business events travel to Australia.

Under the MoU, Tourism Australia and SIA will jointly deliver a range of marketing and promotional trade activities within Asia – Greater China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and India – as well as the UK, shared Tourism Australia’s executive general manager of eastern markets and aviation, Andrew Hogg.

Activities will highlight Australia’s strengths as a world-class business events destination including its iconic and diverse landscapes, award-winning venues, unique experiences and friendly people with fresh perspectives, supported by SIA’s 111 weekly services between Singapore and seven points in Australia.

Hogg told TTGmice that aviation is “critical for Australia”, given its island nation status, hence continued growth in the sector will be “critical to drive competitive pricing”, which will in turn help with the tourism industry’s ongoing recovery.

As of December 2022, international inbound seat capacity stood at 68 per cent, compared to the same month in 2019. This has risen to 74 per cent in February 2023, when compared to February 2019. By June, Hogg expects that Australia will be back to 85 per cent of international inbound seat capacity.

When asked about potential challenges, Hogg shared: “For some travellers, longhaul flights with stops have been a barrier when it comes to visiting Australia. If there are shorter and more direct links, we will be able to attract more international travellers.”

Currently, there are direct flights between Perth and London, and Perth and Rome, but Hogg hopes that in the near future, flights from cities on the eastern coast of Australia to London and New York will also be rolled out.

“Such flights would be a gamechanger for international travel to Australia,” he opined.

This MoU complements Tourism Australia’s other initiatives in the business events sector, such as its brand campaign, There’s Nothing Like Australia for Business Events, that was recently rolled out in Greater China.

Hogg added: “We are also ramping up our business events distribution activity, to give more people the opportunity to experience Australia first-hand to inspire them to take future events Down Under. This includes the Business Events Australia Asia Mega Famil Showcase, which will be held in April with host city partner BESydney.

source: TTG MICE