January Visit California Monthly Activity Report - AUSTRALIA. Gate 7 - AUSTRALIA

Transcription

1 January 2014 Visit California Monthly Activity Report - AUSTRALIA Gate 7 - AUSTRALIA

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents AUSTRALIAN MARKET OVERVIEW... 3 Economy... 3 Airline Updates... 4 Wholesale Updates... 5 Consumer Updates... 7 OTA Update... 9 Visitcalifornia.com.au Updates Social Media PR HIGHLIGHTS... 14

3 AUSTRALIAN & NZ MARKET OVERVIEW Economy Australia Economy CURRENT STATS PREVIOUS MONTH & LY Unemployment Rate 5.8% in Dec 2013 (5.8% Nov13 & 5.3% Dec12) Consumer Price Index 1.2% in Q GDP Growth 0.6% in Q (0.4% Q & 1.4% Q1 1213) (0.6% Q & 0.6% 1314 total) New Zealand Economy CURRENT STATS Unemployment Rate 6.0% in Q Consumer Price Index 0.9% in Q GDP Growth 1.4% in Q PREVIOUS MONTH & LY (6.2% Q & 6.8% Q ) (0.2% Q & 0.3% Q1 1213) (0.3% Q & 1.4% 1314 total) Exchange Rates AUSTRALIA $1 NEW ZEALAND $1 USD $0.87 (Jan 31, 2014: $1.04) USD $0.81 (Jan 31, 2014: $0.83)

4 Airline Updates Virgin international marketing push Virgin Australia chief commercial officer Judith Crompton has outlined details of a major marketing campaign for the carrier s international network, to be rolled out in coming months. Speaking to The Australian this week following the airline s 10th anniversary of operating international flights (TD Wed), Crompton said the focus of the push would be to highlight the sheer range of global destinations available to Virgin Australia pax. Further improvements to the int l network were on the table and being evaluated, Crompton added, helped by new additions to its sales team and closer relationships with tourism bodies. Regions of the world not widely served from Australia, including South America, would also be examined via potential new airline partnership agreements. This year coming up we re going to have some terrific marketing campaigns, joint campaigns with our alliance partners, to really increase awareness, Crompton added.

5 Wholesale Updates Top 20 flight centre group international retail airfares sold in July 2013 (rank & destination) 1 LONDON 2 AUCKLAND 3 DENPANSAR 4 PHUKET 5 LOS ANGELES 6 BANGKOK 7 NADI 8 NEW YORK 9 HONG KONG 10 SINGAPORE 11 MANILA 12 PARIS 13 HONOLULU 14 CHRISTCHURCH 15 DUBLIN 16 VANCOUVER 17 QUEENSTOWN 18 ROME 19 LAS VEGAS 20 MANCHESTER itravel nabs 9 JTG outlets Independently owned and operated retail network itravel has recruited nine new franchise partners from helloworld, Travel Daily can exclusively reveal. In the continuing exodus of offices departing helloworld, the agencies (all from NSW) were until recently long-serving partners of Jetset Travel and Travelworld and possess a combined 100+ years of travel expertise, a number of which have been recognised as Office of the Year. itravel md Steve Labroski said he was thrilled to confirm the retail group s expansion to 12 stores in less than 100 days since launching its franchise model. New partnerships were struck with the business owners of Jetset Travel Wahroonga Village (Jenny Brushe), Jetset Travel The Junction (Georgette Southam and Andrew Minto), Jetset Travel Warners Bay (Sue Rigby) & Jetset Travel Cessnock (Narelle Cook), as well as Travelworld Raymond Terrace (Greg Higginbottom) and the dual offices of both Karenne Norling (Travelworld Taree & Travelworld Forster) and Melissa Devlin (Travelworld Revesby & Travelworld Penshurst). Each agency has now rebranded as itravel - although some are still showing as active on their former franchise s website. We want to join forces with people who have the same vision, goals and values as we do, Labroski said of his new alliances. itravel s expansion isn t showing signs of abating anytime soon, with Labroski indicating six more new franchise partnerships will enter its stable in coming weeks. This is a very exciting time for the itravel group as we begin to build a fresh new brand in the marketplace, he concluded. itravel was formerly an affiliate of the Jetset Travelworld Network, breaking ranks in Aug last year. Cruise Guru, Qantas tie-up CRUISE Guru began talks with Qantas some 18 months ago to convince them to enter the ever-growing cruise market, it has emerged. The result was the formation and launch yesterday of Qantas Cruises (TD breaking news), fittingly on board Celebrity Solstice berthed at Sydney s Circular Quay. It s a long-term partnership where we will become both the technology and knowledge provider to Qantas Cruises, joint managing director Justin Montgomery said. He told Travel Daily Qantas had been looking for a new growth strategy, especially in this marketplace to increase their customer base. We were able to show the airline that we have

6 the technology and know-how to use Cruise Guru s unique technology to increase new opportunities and services for the growing number of Australians choosing to holiday by cruise, Montgomery added. The Qantas network both domestically and internationally is a great fit as we can sell cruises to anywhere in the world. Unique to Qantas Cruises is the ability for customers to access a full range of cruise lines and ships, with live cabin availability and prices. From today, clients will be able to book a flight from Ballina to Barcelona or Melbourne to Miami to join a cruise ship [via Qantas.com], he commented. With 17 international cruise lines, 162 ships and over 10,000 cruise itineraries, we re delighted to partner with Qantas to provide efficiently and competitively priced cruise offers, he said. Montgomery pointed to the 18 consecutive years of double-digit growth in this cruise market with nearly 700,000 Australians taking a cruise in 2012, which is only 3% of the Australian population. So, in this fast-growing cruise market, our partnership with Qantas has enormous upside and enormous potential, he said. Qantas Frequent Flyers will also earn 1 point for every A$1 spent on any cruise booking and double points for every booking made before 14 Feb. The site is expected to go live today.

7 Consumer Updates Family holidays dip A decreasing number of Australian holidaymakers are taking trips with kids, new data from Roy Morgan indicates. Of the more than 10,800,000 Aussies who holidayed once or more in the 12 months to Nov (and specified who they travelled with), just over one-quarter (26%) took a family vacation with children, down three percentage points compared to 10 years ago. Solo travellers rose two points to 14%, while those who took a holiday as a couple remained flat at 36%, the study found. Just 1% holidayed as part of a tour group/singles group. Drop in Aussie dollar hasn t affected travel plans A slump in the Australian dollar has had minimal impact on the number of Aussies planning to take a trip to the United States, new Roy Morgan Research shows. From May to Jun, the US is the top destination which Australians desire to visit in the next two years, accounting for 14.2% of votes and reaching a new high. The result is up from 10.4% for the 12 months to Jun 2008.New Zealand (12.6%) and England (12.3%) were the second & third most desired destinations to holiday, followed by France (8.7%) and Italy (7.9%).

8 TRADE ACTIVITY Trade Training - Conducted training at Escape Travel US Training Day: 30 agents - Qantas Holidays TRIP Incentive in market Trade Shows/Industry Events - Attended Visit USA Meeting Coops - Partnership with Qantas in market - Zuji Campaign Launched - Travel Associates Campaign planning Familiarization Visits - Planning underway for Global Ski Fam - Discussion underway for Luxury California Fam - Discussion underway for Family Fam Distribution of (not including training and shows/events): California IVG (Gate 7): 8 California IVG (TIFS i.e. Insider Signup): 392 Collateral: 0 Distribution of (training and shows/events): California IVG: 35 Collateral: Hats and Pens Running Tally 2635

9 Meetings COMPANY MEETING HIGHLIGHTS Cash Passport Catch up with Steve Callaghan Helloworld Discussion with Dan Penner and Belinda Murphy on Qantas Ski Fam Qantas Discussion with Ashley Howell on Qantas Ski Fam Met with Peter Douglas and team to discuss Excite Holidays potential fam and trade campaign Met with Eliana Martinez to discuss possible United Airlines family fam Met with Holly Biggs to discuss possible family Disney fam Met with Chris and Kirill to discuss VUSA United Airlines presentation Met with Anton and Kane to discuss TA Travel Associates campaign Escape Travel Met with Alex Scott to discuss webinar program Met with Emma Gilleland to discuss Escape Escape Travel Travel brochure Met with Michael Cassis and Lisa Monk for Infinity Holidays general catch up OTA Update Agent sign-ups for January: 17 Agent completions for January: 6 Note: Qantas Holidays TRIP promotion active in market Running Tally 688/1531

10 DIGITAL UPDATES Visitcalifornia.com.au Updates HEADLINE/COMMENTS : Brand Campaign began Monday January 27. January 2014 Statistics

11 January - EDM

12 Social Media Facebook Insights

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14 PR HIGHLIGHTS 5 x 5 x Australian media reps across print, TV, digital and radio participate in global Entertainment media fam with exclusive media preview dinner at Curtus Stone s first ever restaurant, Maude, in Beverly Hills. Trade coverage in all Australian travel trade annoucing details of latest Brand marketing campaign. Media Trips Journalist Name Outlet Regions Visited Nicole Bonnython-Hines ELLE West Hollywood Harriet Farkash Cosmopolitan, Flamingo Pink OC Beaches, San Francisco, California Snow, Beverly Hills Vesna Petropoulis TV Soap, Soap World West Hollywood, Beverly Hills Emma Markezic CLEO, Sunday Style OC Beaches, San Francisco, California Snow, Beverly Hills Dan Phelan Foxtel Palm Springs, LA, Santa Barbara, Solvang, West Hollywood Karla Clarke Harper s Bazaar Palm Springs, LA, Santa Barbara, Solvang, West Hollywood Jonathon Moran Daily Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph and Nova Palm Springs, LA, Santa Barbara, Solvang, West Hollywood Andrea Black New Idea, Fairfax Palm Springs, LA, Santa Barbara, Solvang, West Hollywood Carli Philips Belle, Sunday Style Palm Springs, LA, Santa Barbara, Solvang, West Hollywood Media Evaluation Total No of Clippings: 99 Total Circulation: 8,278,549 Total PR Value: $2,188,769