Qantas has set up a new Sydney-based tour operating business, Tour East Australia, although Qantas Holidays has been involved in inbound travel for some time.
Tour East Australia will be a wholly owned subsidiary of its Singapore based joint venture Holiday Tours and Travel and is to start operating on July 1
It will provide sightseeing tours and accommodation that can be wrapped into packages by travel wholesalers worldwide.
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said: “It will also provide a comprehensive travel service for the inbound meetings, incentives, conferences and events market and offer a meet-and-greet airport transfer service for individual and group travellers.
“Holiday Tours and Travel has considerable expertise in destination management, including an extensive network of destination management companies under the Tour East brand throughout Asia.
“The Qantas Group aims to further leverage this expertise as well as strengthen its involvement in growing inbound markets with the establishment of this new Australia-based subsidiary.”
Dixon said Qantas Holidays inbound business had grown more than 60% cent in the past six months.
The new company which will be headed by former general manager of Qantas Holidays and currently Qantas regional general manager for NSW, Simon Bernardi.
