Destination Wrap: NSW launches bushfire recovery campaign, Tourism Australia’s clever rebrand + MORE!

This week’s Destination Wrap has a distinct local flavour, and is best enjoyed while devouring a meat pie or a pack of lamingtons.
‘Australia is Open’: The Australian Open’s simple but important tourism message
The last few weeks have been difficult for our beautiful country.
Chris Hemsworth and friends have a few words to share about it…#AustraliaIsOpen pic.twitter.com/13ScM9rg64
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020
The Australian Open has received a new name and rebrand: Australia is Open – and it sends a simple but important message to the world.
Following the bushfires that devastated many parts of the nation, Australian is Open – open for business and open for tourism, Tourism Australia said.
“And with all eyes on Melbourne as the tournament reaches its thrilling crescendo, we want our global friends to plan a visit and share the many iconic experiences that make it such a special part of the world.”
Special edition of ATE to boost bushfire recovery
Tourism Australia has announced a series of initiatives that will be implemented as part of the 2020 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE20), to provide direct support to Australian tourism operators in the wake of the devastating bushfire and coronavirus crises.
This year’s special edition of the annual trade show will have a strong recovery focus, with a raft of changes being implemented to the event’s format and delivery, including:
- Waiving the bulk of the attendance fees for all seller companies to acknowledge the recent downturn in tourism and put money directly back into their businesses
- Providing additional support for familiarisation visits for buyers to get out into affected regions to help spread the message overseas that Australia is open for business
- Providing the opportunity for operators from fire affected destinations to attend ATE to give them important exposure to both domestic and international travel buyers; and
- Activating spaces within the ATE event to educate and inform all attendees on how Australia is still open for business.
Destination NSW launches bushfire recovery campaign
The recovery of NSW’s tourism industry from the effects of drought and bushfires is in everyone’s hands with Destination NSW today launching its new marketing campaign, ‘Now’s The Time To Love NSW’.
A rally cry to stay ‘local’, buy ‘local’ and post photos and videos of our favourite places with the hashtag #LoveNSW, the social media-led marketing campaign will utilise user-generated content to encourage Australians to get away and give back.
More flights from Singapore shows confidence in WA tourism
Singapore Airlines is set to launch an additional fifth daily service to Perth, bringing tens of thousands of extra visitors a year to the State and boosting opportunities for the tourism industry and local economy.
Starting from 1 June, Singapore Airlines, which is also the largest carrier of international passengers to Western Australia, will operate the additional service into Perth.
The decision follows the McGowan Government’s proactive work last year to secure a $5 million three-year co-operative marketing deal with the airline, to promote Western Australia globally as a desirable holiday destination.
New 2020 Vanuatu land diving package launched

Image: (Christine Pobke)
Vanuatu Ecotours has launched a new three-day package for visitors wanting to better understand Vanuatu’s iconic land diving ceremony and the mysterious South Pentecost region.
“We’ve been listening to traveller feedback, and what we hear is that visitors want more than a superficial day trip experience. They want to better understand the land diving ceremony and the culture of the Pentecost land diving tribes,” managing director Rob Macalister said.
“Our new South Pentecost package has been carefully crafted with our community partners to give visitors time to explore and learn about this remote region.”
The tours are escorted by one of the Vanuatu Ecotours’ bilingual tour guiding team to ensure visitors’ time in South Pentecost is a safe and happy one.
“Our guides can help answer the many questions that all visitors have after witnessing the land diving ceremony,” Macalister said.
There are only five scheduled departures between April and June 2020. Early bookings are recommended as tours are limited to a maximum of eight people.
Noosa operators get inspired by Tassie tour operators
A group of Tourism Noosa members have enjoyed an inspirational three day roadshow in Tasmania this week learning insights from tourism operators as part of the ‘Tourism Noosa Leadership Program’.
The roadshow was designed to witness and experience ‘Best in Practice’ tourism offerings to analyse what learnings could apply to their own tourism businesses.
International marketing manager Vynka Hutton said Tasmania was chosen as the educational and leadership tour destination as it “resonated in terms of its offerings in sustainability, environment, nature based, food and wine, and cultural experiences”.
“Hobart and its surrounds offer a contrasting blend of nature based, scenery, culture, and local produce, offering similarities to the Noosa region,” she said.
The initiative was made possible by funding from the Australian Government through the ‘Building Better Regions Fund’ program, designed to explore tourism leadership issues specifically for the Noosa region.
The ultimate goal is to create sustainable, competitive tourism businesses armed with the tools and knowledge to make strategic decisions.
Revitalised Seattle Asian Art Museum reopens
An exciting day for the Seattle Asian Art Museum. It is one of just a few museums in North America dedicated to showing exclusively Asian art. It opened its doors after three years today. pic.twitter.com/98ybmom05C
— Kierra Elfalan (@KierraElfalanTV) February 8, 2020
The reimagined and reinstalled Seattle Asian Art Museum reopened to the public with a weekend celebration on 8 and 9 February 2020, inaugurating a new era for one of the few museums in North America dedicated exclusively to Asian art.
The museum will begin welcoming the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 am on Saturday, 8 February. In evidence of public excitement for the reopening, all 10,000 free tickets have been claimed for the weekend-long celebration.
The museum’s regular hours will begin on 12 February, including four new free days offered every month.
With an historic 1933 Art Deco building that has been enhanced by the Seattle-based firm LMN Architects, the museum now features a completely new thematic presentation of the Seattle Art Museum’s major collection of Asian art, in an unparalleled visitor-centred installation that makes connections across geography and embraces the complexity of its vast and profound subject.
Other features include a large new gallery for special exhibitions, a dedicated education space to serve thousands of students a year, and an important conservation centre for Asian paintings.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
#LoveNSW Australia is Open australian tourism exchange destination nsw Destination wrap noosa tasmania vanuatuLatest News

Klook hosts inaugural Partner Awards with Tourism Australia’s Pip Harrison as special guest
Travel activities and experiences booking platform, Klook, held its inaugural Klook Partner Awards event in Sydney last night honouring its top-performing and best-loved merchant partners. Tourism Australia’s Pip Harrison, who was invited to the event as the guest of honour, spoke about the importance of experiences. “I think that experiences are absolutely everything,” she said. […]

APT Travel Group launches early release of 2026 Canada and Alaska Holidays
For anyone with clients craving an icy getaway, APT is serving up some steals right now.

Film, photography and so much more to explore this year in Berlin
Often known for its grungy aesthetics, or perhaps a currywurst stall, there's so much more on offer this year in Berlin.

TravelManagers welcomes two new directors to HOTA Board
We wish Narendra and Judith the best of luck in trying to remember the rest of the Boards' names.

Tauck celebrates 100 years of hosting travellers around the globe
Tauck would only ever celebrate its 100th birthday in pure style - and Italy is just that!

Travelglobe unveils exclusive food tour with MasterChef’s Kirsten Tibballs
Fancy brushing up on your skills making delicious chocolate and pastry-based treats? Meet us on this tour!

Fiji Airways to bring South Australians closer to paradise with third weekly flight from Adelaide in April
South Australians might say they're already in Paradise, but how can they be sure without checking Fiji out?

Bookings for Vanuatu surge with Aussies ready to support earthquake-struck tourism hotspot
In times like those Vanuatu is surfacing from, the tourism dollar goes a long way and Aussies aren't holding back.

Bullo River Station shares its first ever sustainability report
If you would like to be inspired to be a little more green, then check out what Bullo River Station is up to.

‘Fortune favours the bold’: luxury brand leader Anna Burgdorf departs Flight Centre after 6 years
Time for a pop quiz - who first came up with above quote? Was it A) Virgil B) Shakespeare or C) Aristotle?

Cruise Guru unveils Channel Nine show featuring Ponant, Viking, NCL and more
A little offended that we weren't invited on as the 'Cruise Guru' ourselves, but we'll be tuning in regardless.

Explore Worldwide gives agents a chance to win an exclusive Sri Lanka famil
It's like finding a ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! And the prize is even better than unlimited sweets.

Heathrow Airport to upgrade operations as part of multi-billion-pound cash injection
We're usually a bit scared of injections, however a 'cash injection' is one we would welcome with both arms (literally).

Club Med announces Manveer Ramdhian as new MICE manager in Pacific
Rest-assured, being a MICE manager has nothing to do with our furry little friends.

Sydney Airport welcomes daily flights from Hong Kong Airlines
To top it all off, it looks like the representatives scored a cracker of a day for the celebratory photo!

Collette’s Karen Deveson on what Aussies really want from luxury
For Aussies, we're a little bit more laid back when it comes to luxury. No gold-plated cars for us, thanks!

Intrepid Travel partners with Helloworld Travel for exclusive food tour with Luke Nguyen
Vietnamese is one of our favourite cuisines, so we're headed to the Bánh mì shop for lunch in celebration.

Quark Expeditions opens its Antarctic 2026/27 season
You'd have to be Quarking mad to not have a trip like this on your bucket list.

Federal government to purchase REX Airlines if no buyers arise, Albanese says
News that is sure to ruffle some feathers in the offices of competing airlines this morning, but we're all for it!

Topdeck discounts select 2025-26 trips with up to $1,000 off
Knowing my Gen Z sister, that $1,000 saved would be headed straight to the shopping fund.

Windstar Cruises unveils ‘Basil + Bamboo’ on Star Seeker yacht
Don't worry, we're talking about a restaurant here, not the materials used to build the stunning yacht.

Captain Cook Cruises celebrates 55 years of excellence on the water in the habour city
With a view like Sydney Harbour as your office this would be a hard job to leave.

TravelManagers’ Michael Gazal: ‘Agents are spending a lot of time on bespoke trips’
If you haven't already thrown out your cookie cutter mentality, please do so now.

JP Morgan Chase grows travel offering with tech partnership
Our inner bohemian spirit strongly objects to buying travel from an investment bank. #sorrynotsorry

Helloworld celebrates Valentines Day with Air Ticket sale
Nothing gets travel agents' hearts fluttering more than discounted air fares. It is a love language.

Agents return from Sno’n’Ski Whistler and Vancouver famil
If you want to be really jealous this lunchtime, check out what these four agents got up to in Vancouver.

2025 Taipei Lantern Festival lights up Ximending
We hope our boss currently on the ground is as impressed with the snake lantern in person as we are behind the screen.

Numbers reveal how hard it REALLY is to become ATIA accredited
If you have ever failed to be accredited by ATIA then this article will make you feel better. Dust off that form!

Travel agent STILL waiting on $15k Bamboo Airways refund 16 MONTHS after carrier left Australia
This has motivated us to stop complaining about the time we got one less chicken nugget than expected.

AIME 2025 is underway!
If you're headed down to AIME we hope you brought your networking shoes because it's going to be big!

dnata spends $17m on inflight catering centre at Western Sydney Airport
Airline food has come a long was from the days you would be given a dry roll and a long strip of cheese. Time for lunch?

AYANA Bali invites guests to experience the Sacred Day of Silence
When our Balinese taxi driver informed us that it was 'time to be silent', we just assumed we were talking too much.

Brand USA launches inaugural ‘Ambassador Panel’ for ANZ agents
Interested agents need to send in a video of them singing 'Born in the USA'. Okay we made that up...

Experience Co. calls on marketing expertise of Unique Tourism Collection for Wild Bush Luxury
You no longer need to choose between experiencing bush or experiencing luxury. You can do both!

Deserts, dates and doors: Inside the secret Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
For a trip that talks the talk, we can assure you, it certainly walks the walk!

Paw-Patrol returns to Reflections Bermagui as groups boasts $3.5m economic boost
Be careful where you leave your lunch around this holiday park, there will be plenty of noses paying attention.