12 October 2013. The Northern Territory’s ties with China will be further strengthened with a delegation of Territory tourism operators visiting the world’s most populous country.
Minister for Tourism Matt Conlan said this will be the second China mission, after a highly successful event last year.
“The operators will meet with more than 450 Chinese travel agents already selling Australia – which offers an incredible opportunity to showcase all the Territory has to offer,’’ Mr Conlan said.
“Competition is fierce both nationally and internationally amongst destinations seeking to grow their share of the lucrative China market. To be successful, NT operators need to build relationships with the travel trade and keep our iconic region top of mind.
“In 2012, China was Australia’s second largest inbound market and largest market for total expenditure, but remains relatively untapped by the NT with a 0.8 per cent market share of the total visitor arrivals.
“It is estimated that 8,000 Chinese visited the NT in 2012-13, of which 7,000 were holidaying. This figure represents an increase of 25 per cent over the previous financial year. Our vision is to achieve 30,000 visitors from China to the NT by 2020.
“China represents a significant long term growth opportunity for the NT due to the sheer size of the market and the forecasted economic growth fuelling further increases in the Chinese outbound travel.
“Whilst it is an emerging market for the Northern Territory, China is very important to the NT and we need to undertake face-to-face strategies such as this China Mission to spread the message about Australia’s Outback.’’
The NT operators attending include;
· AAT Kings
· NAPT/Uluru Chinese Tour
· Glen Helen Resort
· SEIT Outback Australia
· China Australia Tours
The NT China Mission 2013 will visit Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai on 9-16 October.
