Australia Hopeful to Reward Self on Its Innovative Trade Marketing Program

The MICE industry in Australia is set to make important headways where Tourism Australia has outlined a comprehensive trade marketing program to promote the country as a premier business events destination and increase its share of the lucrative sector. According to Tourism Australia Managing Director, Geoff Buckley, the innovative trade marketing program is to promote Australia as an aspirational destination that offers value for money in the current climate where competition between destinations for the business events and incentive dollar is indeed fierce.

The secret of this success is to stay ahead of competitors by marketing harder and smarter by adopting a proactive approach to highlighting Australia’s distinctive qualities. Indeed Australia offers a wealth of incredible locations, venues, and facilities for business events and, with the shift in exchange rates, presents great value for money to international customers.

Included in the extensive trade marketing program for 2009/10 is a new print advertising campaign, an expanded media buy, a four tiered PR campaign to generate more content about Australia’s offering, an enhanced Business Events Australia website, a year round buyer and agent family program, participation at key international trade events such as the 12th annual Team Australia Business Events Educational (TABEE) in Asia, and a trade incentive showcase called the Dreamtime.

The 2009/10 program also includes a partnership with the industry to deliver a strategy for the associations market. The new print advertisements is to be featured in key trade publications in UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and USA, in order to present a dramatic representation of the innovation that takes place in Australia. Through this marketing strategy, the Business Events marketing program is, therefore, intended to make a powerful statement about Australia’s business events proposition for the corporate meeting and incentive market. According to the Head of Business Events Australia, Joyce DiMascio, the print advertising campaign intends to communicate the message of Australia as a place that ‘engages, challenges, provokes and transforms’ in an original and creative way.

This year, the Tourism Australia stand at IMEX has partnered with 14 Australian convention centers, convention bureaus, and other tourism operators to provide Business Events Australia with access to an international market that allows the showcasing of the country to international buyers and association representatives. In this respect, Australia is set to host the premier incentive travel trade event – Dreamtime – in Sydney, the host destination, in October 2009. As part of the event program five destination educationals will also be held in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Northern Territory, and Sunshine Coast/Brisbane.

Source: Business Events Australia at businessevents.australia.com