Digital toolkit a boon for Cairns

Buyers have praised a digital toolkit that provides them with a comprehensive portfolio of Cairns & Great Barrier Reef destination experiences and products.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ)’s ceo Alex de Waal said TTNQ had received overwhelming feedback on the toolkit launched at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in Melbourne this week.

“A USB stick has been created for each of our key international markets with a comprehensive portfolio of Cairns & Great Barrier Reef destination experiences and products including high resolution images, destination maps and consumer insights for each market,” he said.

“The portfolio of experiences and products were identified through a Destination Experience and Product Gap Analysis (DEPGA) using Tourism Australia research for each of the region’s key source markets to match consumer needs.

“Our international trade partners were extremely enthusiastic about the usefulness of the content we provided them and one Chinese operator said he had not seen this type of initiative undertaken by any other destination.

“The translations into Chinese and Japanese were well received and our trade partners are looking forward to this toolkit moving to an online environment so they can readily gain access to a reliable resource providing the latest product information.”

“Online travel agents also have embraced this project and look forward to working with our region to ensure experiences and activities desired by potential consumers are included on their sites.

“Including these extra activities in itineraries will lead to increased length of stay, greater regional dispersal and an increase in expenditure.

“Feedback from our key western markets of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, North America and New Zealand is that there is consumer confidence to travel again and Australia is back on the radar.”

De Waal said both Australia and the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef area had enjoyed positive growth in the past 12 months and forward bookings were already up for same time last year.

“There has been much interest from the South American and Indian markets with one Indian agent noting a recent successful visit by an incentive group of 220 people following assistance from Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef,” he added.

“A South American post-ATE familiarisation for five high-end agents will arrive in the region on Friday and two South American agents were hosted before ATE.

“Hosting ATE last year, in combination with a large number of trade partners undertaking an extensive pre and post familiarisation, has given the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef destination an enormous profile.

“Some of the initiatives introduced at the Cairns ATE such as stand-up lunches have been retained this year in Melbourne proving that the benchmarks Cairns set and our legacy as having hosted the best ATE ever has endured.”