Tourism Australia has created a live-action short film with CGI animated characters. The short film, G’day, is part of a new global tourism campaign inviting international travellers to Come and Say G’day, and plan and book an Australian adventure of their own. Directed by acclaimed Australian director, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by FINCH, G’day the short film shows the unlikely adventure of a plush souvenir kangaroo named Ruby, voiced by beloved Australian actor Rose Byrne, and a toy unicorn, Louie, voiced by actor Will Arnett. The short film follows Ruby and Louie as they ‘break out’ of a gift shop on the Great Barrier Reef and take an incredible adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s laneways, and stunning natural landscapes like Uluṟu and Nitmiluk Gorge. Along the way, they explore the magnitude of travel experiences Australia has to offer, connect with Australia’s Indigenous cultures, and learn why every great adventure starts with the unmistakably Aussie greeting, “G’day!”. Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, said “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.” The multichannel campaign includes new broadcast advertisements (in 60, 30 and 15 second versions), print and high impact Out of Home (OOH) advertising placements, as well as social, digital, and content marketing initiatives. The campaign activity will be further amplified by partnership activity with airlines, State Tourism Organisations, and key distribution partners including Thomas Cook, SOTC, PickYourTrail, Kesari Tours amongst others. Australia’s Indigenous cultures and peoples are at the heart of the story in G’day, and …

The Ministry of Tourism, in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), organised a national conference of DGs/inspector generals of the police departments of all states and UTs to discuss implementation of Uniform Tourist Police Scheme. Objective of the national conference was to bring the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs, BPR&D and state governments and UT administration on the same platform, so that they may work together in close coordination with the state and UT police departments and sensitise them about specific requirements of foreign and domestic tourists.

The cruise industry has proven its resilience throughout its more than 50-year history—as is evident in the responsible return to operations that began in July 2020. In the baseline forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023. In the upside forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover to 101% of 2019 levels a year earlier, by the end of 2022. In all three scenarios, passenger volume is projected to recover in excess of 12% above 2019 levels by the end of 2026.

After the success of its convention, TAFI has announced it will offer online courses on its website. Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, says, “TAFI has tied up with a company to provide a 100+ skilling courses on various subjects. This includes soft skills and education on specific topics. This will be offered on our website free of cost to all our members. The integration is happening right now and these courses will be online soon. These are some of the things we will be building upon. A convention happens every year or two but what you learn and discuss during the event needs to be taken forward and that is what we want to. I do hope our members take advantage of this.”

Pre-pandemic, New Zealand welcomed 67,000 Indian visitors. What is remarkable about this, says Gregg Wafelbakker, GM, Asia, Tourism New Zealand, is that number had doubled in five years. “This translates to almost a 15% compounding annual growth rate. As we look forward, obviously we start from a low base. We have a target audience in India. We look at an audience of those who have New Zealand as their top five preference country and there’s 12.3 million of those. And we know that 12.3 million of 1.4 billion people may not seem a lot but certainly for us that is our audience. And 64% of that audience has New Zealand as the number one preferred destination for a visit,” he says.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is pleased to announce the introduction of its A350-900 medium haul wide-body aircraft on the Hyderabad to Singapore sector. It will operate daily flights between Hyderabad and Singapore, with the A350 services operating every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The inaugural service SQ 523 will depart from Hyderabad International Airport at 2310 hrs on 30 October 2022. The Airline will continue to operate its B737-8 narrow-body services through the remainder of the week. Sy Yen Chen, General Manager India for Singapore Airlines, said, “We are delighted to enhance our services to Hyderabad with our wide-body A350 aircraft. This is a significant milestone for us as it reinforces our commitment to the market, more so after SilkAir’s integration with Singapore Airlines a year ago.” “In line with the company’s commitment to product and service excellence, the Airbus A350 medium haul aircraft, combined with our award-winning inflight service, will provide enhanced comfort to travellers from Hyderabad. Furthermore, the introduction of a wide-body aircraft on this sector also opens up a wider range of opportunities and capabilities for SIA Cargo,”  Chen added. Speaking about the launch of SIA’s A350-900 operations, Pradeep Panicker, CEO,GMR Hyderabad International Airport said, “Over the past few months, GMR Hyderabad International Airport has witnessed a significant growth in international passenger traffic. This is an indicator of a rebound in international travel post the pandemic. Travellers are exploring exotic destinations; there has been an uptick in the student traffic pursuing academics in international shores; business travel has resumed. The festive season has contributed to the footfall in the passenger profile of Visiting Friends and Relatives. Singapore is one of the most sought after destinations from Hyderabad. With …

As part of BESydney’s business events financial support, a new program the Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund has been launched in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam for corporate meetings, incentives and conferences held in Greater Sydney in 2023.  Applications officially open 6 October. The BESydney funding will offset costs for events with 200-400 delegates, whereby the client will receive support to the value of AU$40 per person and for events with a group size over 401 delegates, it will be deferred to a customised funding offer. Applications will be assessed on a first-come first-served basis. “BESydney’s Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund is an exciting initiative, to stimulate a return to hosting incredible corporate events and incentives in our harbour city,” said BESydney CEO, Lyn Lewis-Smith. “We want to support our important meeting planners and encourage the return of our Asian incentive and corporate market to Sydney to experience the vibrancy and energy of the city, as well as our new products, attractions and venues,” she said. Information on the Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund program can be found at besydney.com.au/incentives/ignite-sydney-2022/ and applications open 6 October.  Financial support is limited, so events which qualify, need to act quickly in order to be successful.  Applications close on 18 November 2022 (or earlier if funds have been allocated). Sydney has seen the opening of a number of new and exciting event venues and attractions over the last two years including: the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga Zoo where you can wake up with a koala; the $57M renovation of the Australian Museum where you can host events in the shadow of a dinosaur; the multi-million dollar restoration of Watersedge at Campbell’s Stores …

DCT Abu Dhabi will be conducting #InAbuDhabi webinar today at 3pm for the travel trade. Participants would learn about upcoming events, experiences, attractions, hotels, among other offerings. Register with jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

As per the latest ICRA report, international passenger traffic continues to rise since the resumption of the scheduled international operations with effect from March 27, 2022. In September 2022, international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 25.12 lakh, surpassing pre-Covid levels of 18.8 lakh by 34%.

With New Zealand borders reopened since August, Tourism New Zealand extends an invitation to curious travellers to visit and quench their curious minds. Its new global campaign titled ‘If You Seek’ is a call to visitors who wish to seek more through extraordinary travel experiences. The campaign is set to launch in India through key trade partners like Thomas Cook, MakeMyTrip and Kulin Kumar Holidays. Its objective is to convert pent-up demand for New Zealand through these partnerships to boost recovery.