Tourism Australia seals Etihad partnership
Tourism Australia has signed a new partnership with Etihad Airways, aimed at bringing more visitors to Australia from the Middle East and Europe.
Under the new marketing agreement, the two parties will together invest up to AU$6 million (US$6.3m) over the next three years on a range of promotional efforts in Etihad’s key markets. The move follows the recent expansion of Tourism Australia’s partnership with Etihad’s partner airline Virgin Australia, which was doubled from AU$6m to US$12m in the wake of the breakdown of ties between Tourism Australia and Qantas.
The national tourism board’s managing director, Andrew McEvoy, cited Etihad’s recent decision to upgrade its Brisbane service to daily as evidence of the Abu Dhabi-based carrier’s commitment to Australia.
“In just five years of flying to Australia, Etihad Airways has demonstrated a strong and growing commitment to its Australian operations. Thanks to its rapidly expanding international network, Etihad Airways is feeding increasing numbers of passengers onto Australia bound flights through its Abu Dhabi hub, particularly from Australia’s traditional high volume markets of the UK and Europe,” McEvoy said.
Etihad’s president & CEO, James Hogan – himself an Australian national – praised Tourism Australia’s efforts in boosting tourism to the country.
“Tourism Australia is doing an impressive job creating demand throughout Europe for business and leisure travel to Australia. Our partnerships with airberlin, Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Czech Airlines, are tapping into this demand and, significantly, are offering flights to Australia from destinations throughout Europe that were previously offline,” Hogan said.
“On top of that, our partnership with Virgin Australia adds another powerful dimension to the marketing of Australian tourism. As well as giving overseas visitors a wider choice of destinations within Australia, helping to disperse them around the country, it also delivers major benefits to the Australian economy, domestic tourism operators and regional communities.
“There is a great natural synergy between the MoU with Tourism Australia and our airline partnerships, particularly the one with Virgin Australia. In fact, Etihad Airways and Tourism Australia have already started planning a major campaign for the first half of 2013 – together with Virgin Australia – in order to leverage the synergies of the airlines’ joint networks and cooperative marketing spends,” Mr Hogan added.
The latest deals with Etihad and Virgin Australia will play a major role in filling the gap left following the end of Tourism Australia’s relationship with Qantas. The Australian carrier’s CEO, Alan Joyce, pulled the plug on the partnership last month citing interference from Tourism Australia’s Chairman, former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon, who was accused on trying to undermine Qantas’ restructuring plans, including its proposed tie-up with Etihad’s rival, Emirates.