Bloody hell…visas, coffee, ATDW….

Lonely Planet poll puts Australia number one again in UK

Young travellers in the UK have voted Australia the country they most want to visit next, moving up from third place last year and now ahead of the US, Thailand, Spain, New Zealand, India and Italy.

“Young travellers are a key high yield market.… their high dispersal and length of stay deliver immediate economic benefit to regional, rural and remote communities around Australia,? says Scott Morrison, Managing Director of Tourism Australia.

The ?So where the bloody hell are you?? campaign was designed to present Australia as an exciting destination particularly in the minds of backpackers and other young travellers. The challenge now is to convert this excitement into a trip.

The new working holiday visa arrangements are also having an impact. In Italy – and other European countries – Tourism Australia is working with the Australian Embassy to promote the Working Holiday Maker visa to youth markets. Check out www.lavoro.australia.com to hear Oz promoted in Italian!

Posters have been distributed to over 20 universities and youth centres to tell the Italian youth market about recent via changes allowing travellers to work with one employer for up to six months and extend their study time from three to four months.

Australia?s central tourism information network, Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) Australia?s central tourism information network, has just signed leading tourism website, About-Australia.com, which is ranked in the top five by search engine Google for the search term ?Australia? and a recent review of tourism portals shows that regional and small tourism operators are turning to the web to increase their visibility amongst interstate and international tourist markets.
ATDW General Manager Liz Ward says this was a great boost for regional and smaller operators and has already resulted in a substantial increase in enquiries and bookings.

?The partnership with About Australia gives smaller operators a greater voice and more opportunity to be found in an increasingly competitive marketplace?Whether they?re a global organisation or a rural tour operator, everyone deserves to be found,? says Liz.

Finally on the tourism promo front…a new national licensing program for baristas aimed at guaranteeing the quality of coffee being served in Australia?s cafes and restaurants will launch next month!