Etihad, Tourism Australia quadruple marketing spend

This doubles the total value of the original three-year, A$6 million marketing agreement signed in December 2013 to A$12 mill

Dubai — Tourism Australia and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, have deepened their strategic marketing partnership with a significant increase in joint funding for the promotion of tourism to Australia in overseas markets.

Under the new arrangements, Tourism Australia and Etihad Airways will quadruple their spend in the 2014/15 season for what will become their strongest ever push to promote Australia to international leisure and business travellers. This doubles the total value of the original three-year, A$6 million marketing agreement signed in December 2013 to A$12 million.

This additional funding covers a range of joint marketing activities including support for Tourism Australia’s Restaurant Australia campaign, its international media hosting programme, Australian Tourism Exchange, and targeted business events in the UK and Europe.

One of the first initiatives funded under the expanded agreement was the recent UK launch of Tourism Australia’s Restaurant Australia campaign, where Australia House in London was transformed into an Australian-themed ‘pop up’ restaurant. Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan, pointed to the airline’s recent Perth launch and decision to deploy one of its first Airbus A380 aircraft between Abu Dhabi and Sydney as evidence of the airline’s continued expansion plans and commitment to the Australian market.

“Etihad Airways is one of Tourism Australia’s most important aviation partners, playing a critical role feeding traffic to Australia’s key gateways, via the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub,” he said.

Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said: “Australia is one of our most popular destinations, and its appeal among business and leisure travellers — particularly from the UK and Europe — contributes greatly to our Australian operation.

“We are delighted to have an aspirational platform such as Restaurant Australia as the basis of our continuing investment in Australian tourism and as a showcase for our own award-winning guest experience.”

• business@khaleejtimes.com