The Travel Corporation will begin selling its Inspiring Journeys brand in key international markets later this year but has no plans to draw up itineraries beyond Australasia.
Tours in Australia and New Zealand are currently sold in the domestic market, NZ and Singapore with managing director Tammy Marshall revealing it will soon open sales further afield.
The brand will also have a presence at Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in June as it aims to increase the exposure and reach of the operation to international markets.
“We’ll look at selling the Inspiring Journeys tours in our traditional western markets, and growth markets such as China and Malaysia,” Marshall told Travel Today.
But she ruled out expansion of its product range to overseas destinations, preferring to focus on establishing its Australia and New Zealand tours.
The brand was launched in March last year with Marshall heralding customer feedback as its “biggest success” to date.
But while targets have been hit in the first 12 months and feedback from agents and consumers has been positive, the program has not been without its struggles, she said. The shrinking size of the domestic market, fuelled by a desire for outbound travel, and expense of some of the longer outback tours have all been challenges, Marshall explained.
Shorter itineraries have been popular however and will be developed further while the operator will also search for more “unique experiences”, one of the bedrocks of the program.
The first tours in New Zealand depart in November.
