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Welcome to this week’s edition of Talking Tourism newsletter.
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Five-star result for Stay, Play and Save campaign
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Tourism WA’s Stay, Play and Save campaign has been a hit, generating more than 3,000 extra room nights in Perth, all booked in February. The campaign featured advertising across a range of channels in Perth and regional WA, encouraging West Australians to take a mid-week staycation in Perth and enjoy $200 off their booking. Nearly 50 accommodation properties participated in the campaign and featured on a dedicated Experience Perth landing page. About 12 hotels sold out before the campaign ended, with many others reporting strong booking results. For more information on the campaign, visit our corporate website.
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Registrations open for AHA 2021 Hospitality Expo
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Registrations are now open for the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) 2021 Hospitality Expo, Western Australia’s largest annual hospitality convention. The expo will be held at Crown Perth from April 13-14, showcasing the latest hospitality products and services from more than 100 industry suppliers. Members of WA’s hotel, liquor and hospitality related industries can attend for free if they register before April 2, 2021. The expo will also include the Bankwest Master Class Sessions, providing interactive and educational sessions by industry experts. More information on these sessions will be provided soon. For more information about the Hospitality Expo, visit the AHA WA website.
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Support for small tourism business owners
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Tourism businesses can access specialist business advice, workshops and webinars as part of the Federal Government’s Australian Small Business Advisory Services (ASBAS). Business owner and tourism specialist, Kristy Bailey is available for a one-on-one consultation, completely free as part of the program. The program aims to increase the capability of small business owners through low cost, high quality advice on a wide range of digital and business topics, as well as access to a range of subsidised workshops and webinars. For more information email kristy@oneeightymarketing.com.au or visit the ASBAS website.
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Restrictions to ease for venues across WA
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A reminder that from Monday, March 15, 2021 some venues across the State will be able to operate at up to 75 per cent of their normal capacity. Increased capacity of up to 75 per cent will be allowed at seated outdoor and indoor venues, including restaurants, cafes, food courts, and bars, indoor and outdoor auditoriums and amphitheatres, theatres, concert halls, cinemas, comedy lounges, performing arts centres, places of worship, function centres, community, recreation or youth centre or facilities, including community halls and sporting clubs, WA’s major stadiums (Optus Stadium, HBF Park, RAC Arena, HBF Stadium - Main Arena) and funeral parlours. If the two square metre rule is greater than 75 per cent capacity, the greater option will be permitted for these particular venues and events. The two square metre rule will continue to apply to unfixed seating venues, such as unseated events
and festivals, pop-up events, museums, amusements parks and the zoo. Also, all jurisdictions will be classified as ‘very low risk’, including Victoria, from 12.01am on March 15, 2021, pending no community outbreak. This allows for travel into WA, without the need for quarantine. More information is available at www.wa.gov.au.
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Federal Government Tourism Support package announced
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Today, the Federal Government announced a new $1.2 billion support package for the tourism and aviation industries. The package includes the Tourism Aviation Network Support (TANS) program, which halves the cost of up to 800,000 airfares (or around 45,000 seats a week) to drive recovery in regions reliant on international tourism, including Broome in WA; extending the $50 million Business Events Grants program by three months to support the events sector; and a further support package for travel agents, so they can continue to
process refunds and hold credits for Australian consumers. The Small Medium Enterprise Loan Guarantee Scheme will also be extended. The TANS program will increase the number of flights on selected routes, creating a surge in tourism aviation capacity and reducing the cost of flying for consumers through discounted prices to those regions. Discounted tickets will be available from airline websites from April 1, 2021. For more information on the COVID-19 tourism support plan, visit Austrade’s website.
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2021 Regional Tourism Conference to hit the Coral Coast
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Registrations are now open for the 2021 Perth Airport WA Regional Tourism Conference. Held in Geraldton from May 3-5, the conference provides delegates with opportunities for professional and business development, networking and engagement with industry colleagues. It will also feature industry-leading speakers on critical issues and innovative ideas. Register now to secure the early bird rate – for a limited time only. For more information and to register, visit Tourism Council WA’s website.
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Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards return
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Nominations for the 2021 Peth Airport WA Tourism Awards are now open. With 26 categories to choose from, including festivals and events, adventure tourism, tours and transport, food, wine and accommodation, there is a category to suit every tourism business. This year’s awards include a new, shorter question set for most entries, an extension to the qualifying period, and a Judges’ Choice Award. The awards are sponsored by Tourism WA and judged by a panel of industry volunteers. For more information, visit Tourism Council WA’s website or email awards@tourismcouncilwa.com.au.
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Google launches free travel training webinars
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Google is offering a free digital upskilling series of webinars for the Australian travel industry. The next sessions will stream on March 18 and March 25. Participants will learn about industry trends, insights and examples of how travel businesses can grow using digital marketing. Topics to be covered include how to create and manage a business profile on Google, how to grow brand awareness using Google ads and how to turn data into actionable insights with Google Analytics. Sign up to the webinars at the Google OnAir page and join in the members-only travel and community hub question and answer session after the webinars, via the Travel Community
Hub website.
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Applications open for ATE 2021
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Applications are now open for Australia’s largest tourism tradeshow, the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE). This year ATE will feature in-person and virtual events to connect our tourism industry with international and domestic travel buyers. ATE Live will be held from June 6-9 in Sydney for domestic buyers, frontline travel sellers and international buyers who are based in Australia, or located in countries permitted to travel to Australia. ATE Online will follow from June 10-17 for international buyers unable to travel due to border restrictions. Australian sellers may apply to attend both events, with applications closing on March 19, 2021. For more information including subsidised participation fees and to register, visit the ATE website.
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$40 million Indigenous Tourism Fund to help recovery
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WA Aboriginal tourism businesses are encouraged to apply for funding through the Federal Government’s $40 million Indigenous Tourism Fund. The funding includes up to $12 million in tourism grants to help Aboriginal businesses and organisations develop new products and purchase systems and equipment. First round grant applications close on March 22, 2021. The fund also includes $10 million towards a mentoring program and up to $17 million for states and territories to co-invest with the Commonwealth on significant Aboriginal tourism projects. In addition, $1 million will help establish a National Indigenous Tourism Advisory Group to advise on priorities and the implementation of the fund. For more information visit the National Indigenous Australians Agency website.
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Apply now for WA Virtual Roadshow - UK and Europe
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We are organising a virtual networking and educational roadshow to connect outbound trade partners from Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom with key WA tourism operators. The roadshow, held from April 19-30, 2021, will enable participants to learn, exchange information and build relationships with key decision makers and front-line agents through virtual events. To apply, download the application form on Tourism WA’s corporate website and email it to trademarkets@westernaustralia.com by March 14, 2021.
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Energy grants for accommodation providers
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The Australian Government has announced grants of $10,000 to $25,000 for small and medium hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 1 to 99 guestrooms to help reduce energy use, improve energy productivity and deliver carbon abatement. Applications for the Hotel Energy Uplift Program can be submitted until April 1, 2021, and will be assessed based on eligibility criteria, submission time and date and distribution of funding per jurisdiction. For more information on the program visit business.gov.au.
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National India Host Program for 2021
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The India Host Program, developed by ATEC, in partnership with Tourism Australia and Austrade is back for 2021. More than 600,000 Indians live in Australia and the program will offer valuable insights into how to market to the local Indian community in preparation for welcoming back the India international traveller, when the time is right. The online program covers content including Indian culture, identifying target segments and tailoring product, as well as how to make your product marketing and trade ready for Indian customers. The program will run nationally from March –June with dates to be released soon. Register your interest here.
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List your event in Tourism WA’s industry events calendar
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If you have a tourism industry event that you would like to spread the word about, let us know. The industry events calendar on our corporate website features upcoming events coordinated by us or other organisations, which may be of interest to you. We can promote trade events, training for tourism operators, workshops, industry briefings, networking opportunities and award night presentations. If you have a tourism industry event that you would like to promote, email us.
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Register for workshops and networking
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Register now for Tourism Council WA’s (TCWA) training workshops and Tourism Connect networking events throughout the first half of the year in Kununurra (March 23 and 24), Busselton (May 18 and 19), Albany (June 1 and 2), and in Perth (June 15). For the full schedule of events and to secure your spot, visit TCWA’s website.
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Spirit of Trails Conference
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March 14-16: The Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-Tourism Inc (FACET) is hosting the Spirit of Trails Conference. The conference provides a chance to learn more about how tourism businesses, current and emerging trail towns can benefit from WA’s trail development. A guided pre-conference tour will be held on Sunday, March 14, a full day conference program on Monday, March 15 and a post-conference tour on Tuesday, March 16. Register and read more on the FACET website.
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