Australia pays closer attention to China

CHINA is becoming a major tourism player for Australia.

Tourism Victoria is investing A$8 million (US$6.7 million) in a campaign that would move China from the state's third largest source market to pole position by 2014.

Business development manager North Asia, Lindsay Gooding, said the three-year programme would include a mid-2011 launch of a major brand campaign. “We will initially do a lot of research to identify the proper market segments. We hope to tap the higher-end Chinese consumers.”

Victoria's efforts will be boosted by China Southern Airlines turning its thrice-weekly Melbourne-Guangzhou flights into a daily service from October. Last year, the state received 163,000 visitors from China, a 1.8 per cent hike over 2008.

South Australia is also enjoying a Chinese windfall. Arrivals rose by 90 per cent last year while visitor nights ballooned by 129 per cent. The state recently received its first charter flight from Guangzhou, opened an office in Shanghai earlier this year and is collaborating with wine companies, Penfolds and Jacob's Creek, to raise its profile in the market, said South Australia Tourism Commission chief executive Ian Darbyshire.

Tourism Australia's Aussie Specialist Programme has more participants in China than anywhere else in the world.