Tag Archives: John O’Sullivan

Tourism Australia has introduced a second tier to its specialist program in India with the introduction of the Premier Aussie Specialist Program. Membership in the Premier Aussie Specialist category is an acknowledgement of the destination expertise, insider knowledge and strong ties with the Australian travel industry of Aussie Specialist agents with an established record of selling Australia. As part of the launch, 70 agents from across cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Pune have been inducted into the Premier Aussie Specialist Program in India. The programme offers professional validation for retail agents selling Australian holidays to discerning consumers. As part of the membership, Premier Aussie Specialists are invited to attend exclusive travel industry workshops, market updates and training events hosted by Tourism Australia and Australia’s States and Territories. Speaking at the launch, John O’Sullivan, Managing Director, Tourism Australia said, “The Premier Aussie Specialist Program seeks to recognise the invaluable advocacy that travel advisors, who have been selling Australian holidays for many years, deliver for the destination. This group of elite agents are important contributors to our efforts to make Australia a destination of choice for travellers from India and it is a proud moment for us to congratulate and show our appreciation to these industry friends for their incredible passion and dedication to selling Australia.” Tourism Australia’s distribution strategy for India includes an enriched trade engagement programme. As one of the pioneers of the online destination training, Tourism Australia’s Aussie Specialist Program has recruited more than 2,981 travel agents across India.

Tourism Australia, the Australian Government agency responsible for attracting international visitors to Australia for leisure and business events, this year celebrates five decades of promoting Australia in key markets across the globe. On this occasion, Tourism Australia announced the tourism programme for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, in the presence of ace shooter and former Olympic and Commonwealth Gold Medalist, Abhinav Bindra. The Games will be held in Gold Coast. To celebrate Tourism Australia’s 50-year milestone a number of key distribution partners in India have developed special the 50th Anniversary packages, offering significant value-adds to travelers. Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan said, “Our global consumer campaigns such as ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ – most recently brought to life with its ‘Aquatic and Coastal’ and ‘Restaurant Australia’ iterations – continue to evolve to showcase some of the very best attractions, experiences and food and wine options Australia has on offer for travellers. However, Australia’s success would not be possible without the incredible support and passion of our trade partners with whom we work with across the globe. In India, we are amplifying our marketing initiatives to reach and attract our growing target audience of prospective travellers to Australia. India is currently the 8th largest inbound market for Australia, and is expected to be within the top 5 markets by 2025, with around 500,000 Indian visitors annually. The increasing visitor numbers from India confirms that we are well placed to achieve our long-term Tourism 2020 targets for arrivals and out of region market share for India, well ahead of time.” Fanatic Sports was also present at the event which is the authorised ticket reseller for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Raghav Gupta, Founder …