Tourism Australia: So where are you?

DUBAI – Reaction to Tourism Australia’s decision to close its offices in Dubai, Thailand and Taiwan continues to attract comment.

Gemma Greenwood, writing in Middle East Hotelier magazine under the headline Tourism Australia: So where are you? said, “The tables are turning for a tourism board that just a few years back, so boldly asked the world in it’s controversial advertising campaign, ‘So where the bl***y **** are you?’

“This was a clarion call to the trade and consumers to visit Australia to see what they were missing and a sign that Tourism Australia meant business in terms of boosting its arrivals numbers.

“It was welcomed in the Gulf where carriers such as Emirates airline had invested so much time and effort in increasing frequencies and capacity from Dubai to Australia’s major gateways.

“Not only that, but it gave the travel trade a destination to really get their teeth stuck into and as a result, visitor numbers from the region have improved dramatically over the past five years.”

Greenwood said it was no surprise, therefore, that TA’s decision to pull out of the GCC market, effective from June 30, which will see the Dubai office shut its doors, has “left the trade reeling”.

“For airlines such as Emirates, which now flies to Australia 63 times weekly, soon rising to 70 weekly, with one of its A380s operating the Sydney route, this is a kick in the teeth,” she wrote.

“Once again the airline will be forced to foot the bill when it comes to promoting and advertising Australia given that the TA budget has been stripped right back.

“Travel agents and tour operators feel somewhat left in the lurch – and I don’t blame them.

“They like selling Australia – but the mood won’t last for long.

“As the saying goes, ‘out of sight, out of mind’, and as far as the GCC travel trade are concerned, it will be far easier to go back to selling the good old staples they know and love – the UK, France and Austria, for example.”

Read the full Middle East Hotelier story at http://hoteliermiddleeast.com/article-4539-tourism_australia_so_where_are_you/