Tourism Australia and China Southern Airlines have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to develop the business event travel sector in China.
This is the first of such an agreement signed between the two organisations. Both organisations will work together to develop marketing campaigns and promotional activities targeting MICE agents and corporate buyers in China, which is now Australia largest source of visitors at 1.4 million (spending worth A$10.9 billion; US$7.8 billion) as of the end of May 2018.
“Since 2011, China has been the most valuable inbound tourism market and continues to be highly significant to Australia. Our new partnership with China Southern Airlines will enable us to dedicate more efforts to tap into the Chinese business event sector which has great potential for Australia,” said John O’Sullivan, managing director of Tourism Australia.
There were 100,000 business events visitors to Australia from China in the year ending March 2018, an increase of 11 per cent, with a total spend of A$586 million, up 12 per cent on the same period in 2017.
“China Southern highly values Australia as a market offering boundless attractions to entice even the savviest of Chinese travellers which is why we continue to invest significantly in our Australia flights network and in promoting Australia as the must-go destination. The business event sector offers new opportunities for the airlines to expand its operations,” said Tan Wangeng, president & CEO of China Southern Airlines.
China Southern Airlines has about 50 direct flights to Australia weekly.
