August 2013 Visit California Monthly Activity Report - AUSTRALIA Gate%7%'%AUSTRALIA% %%%%%% %%%%%%
TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents AUSTRALIAN MARKET OVERVIEW... 3% Economy... 3% Airline Updates... 4% Wholesale Updates... 5% Consumer Updates... 6% OTA Update... 8% Visitcalifornia.com.au Updates... 9% Social Media... 13% CONSUMER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS... Error! Bookmark not defined.% Marketing Plan 2012/2013... Error! Bookmark not defined.% PR HIGHLIGHTS... 15%
AUSTRALIAN & NZ MARKET OVERVIEW Economy Australia Economy CURRENT STATS PREVIOUS MONTH & LY Unemployment Rate 5.7 % in Aug 2013 (5.7 % Junl,13 5.2% Aug,12) Consumer Price Index 102.8 in Q2 2013 (102.8 Q2,13 101.8 Q3,12) GDP Growth 2.6% in Q3 2013 (2.5% Q2,13 3.7% Q3,12) New Zealand Economy CURRENT STATS PREVIOUS MONTH & LY Unemployment Rate 6.4 % in Q3 2013 (6.2% Q2,13 6.8% Q3,12) Consumer Price Index 1176 in Q2 2013 (1176 Q2,13 1171 Q3,12) GDP Growth 2.4% in Q2 2013 (2.4% Q2,13 2.6% Q3,12) Exchange Rates AUSTRALIA $1 NEW ZEALAND $1 USD $1.03 (Aug 31, 2012: $1.05) USD $0.77 (Aug 31, 2012: $0.80)
Airline Updates Qantas revamps Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Auckland and Christchurch Qantas has just announced a "series of improvements to its international network," including the introduction of a new direct route between Perth and Auckland. The new service will operate on a seasonal basis between early December and the end of January, flying twice per week using a QF A330 aircraft. Other changes will see one additional weekly return Sydney-Hong Kong flight upgraded to an A380, increasing the number of QF superjumbo services on the route from four to five per week. This will in turn allow frequencies on Brisbane-Los Angeles to increase to daily, while QF's existing Sydney-Christchurch flight will be retimed to connect with more international services from Sydney, as well as complementing the existing Emirates service on the route. Qantas ceo Alan Joyce said the changes were made possible through schedule optimisation and "ongoing transformation efforts within the airline's international division". "We're able to make these changes by simply using our existing assets better," he said. The announcements coincide with the first day of the Qantas-Emirates partnership on the trans-tasman, which has seen the airlines align fares and activate codesharing on around 130 weekly flights between Australia and New Zealand. United drops Aus capacity United Airlines is set to drop its 747-400 jumbo services on the trans-pacific route from 30 Mar, replaced by newer 269-seat Boeing 777s (TD breaking news). The Star Alliance member carrier this morning confirmed it will begin operating triple-class 777-200ERs on both the daily Los Angeles-Sydney-Melbourne route & San Francisco- Sydney city pair, effective 01 Apr (eastbound). UA s 777s feature 40 forward & rear facing BusinessFirst Seats in an eight across configuration, and eight United Global First seats. At the rear, the 777s offer a total of 221 Economy class seats - 117 of which are in Economy Plus and offer additional legroom & space. Economy class passengers are the major beneficiaries of the jet switch, with seats equipped with personal on-demand IFE & power outlets - a feature that has long been craved but never offered on UA s flights to Australia - making the carrier more able to compete against the likes of Qantas, Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines. Eventually, inflight connectivity will also be available on the 777s. The 777 will be the ideal aircraft for our Australia routes in terms of both capacity and customer amenities, said James Mueller, United s vice president Atlantic & Pacific sales. However the move sees a dramatic decrease in capacity, dropping from 374 seats offered on the jumbo, equating to 1,470 less seats per week on the routes, which has the potential to improve yields for all carriers. United director Australia and NZ Alison Espley told TD: The strength of the United global network will continue to set us aside from the competition. We will have a product that we will better need the needs of all our customers and we will continue to compete vigorously to ensure we receive our fair share of customers on the route, Espley commented.
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 LAS 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 JTG announces new helloworld staff structure Jetset Travelworld Limited has just revealed the new structure of its executive team, which will support the new retail network models under its helloworld brand. According to the company all current business leaders will remain with JTG in senior roles, and franchisees and members will continue to have access to the same business development managers and business leaders as the transition to the new structure is implemented. Jetset Travelworld Network GM Julie Primmer has been appointed Head of Branded Network, with responsibility for all franchisees choosing to adopt the helloworld brand in their stores. Travelscene GM David Padman will take on the role of Head of Associate Networks, with responsibility for Associate and Corporate members in the helloworld network. HWT head David Rivers will become Head of Retail Transition, looking after franchisees that remain with the eisting brands. And Travelscene CEO Mike Thompson has been named as Head of Strategic Partnerships, with responsibility for maintaining relationships with the group's most significant commercial partners. The new structure will also see JTG gm commercial Peter Egglestone take over as Head of Wholesale, with responsibility for the new helloworld holiday products as well as Qantas Holidays, Viva! Holidays and JTG's wholesale cruise operations. And Stephanie Belton will expand her current role as General Counsel to also assume the responsibility of Group Company Secretary. CEO Rob Gurney said that the new appointees were now in the process of developing their departmental organisations, and in the interim all existing structures and roles will remain unchanged. "We will make further announcements as the organisation develops to meet our future needs in the growing and dynamic travel industry," he said. All of the appointments are immediate, with transition to the new roles to be completed by 01 Nov 2013.
Consumer Updates Aussies part with cash Australia has ranked second in a global study of which nation spends the highest amount of money on travel, trumped only by holidaymakers from Saudi Arabia. The result was revealed in the 2013 Global Travel Intentions Study, carried out by Visa, which polled 12,631 travellers from 25 countries, including 500 Aussies. On average, we spent $4,265pp on each trip, however Australians were also very costconscious, with 38% of those surveyed saying good value for money was critical in selecting their destination. The figure was more than twice the Asia-Pacific average and more than $1,000 over global averages. Despite the high spend, travel was extremely high on the agenda for Australians, with 98% of those polled saying they had made a leisure trip in the last two years. Visa also found travel budgets are set to increase, with travellers saying they expected to pay an additional 9% on their next trip. Record outbound travel Outbound travel boomed in 2012-13, with Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released today showing a record 8.4 million short-term overseas trips for the 12 months to 30 Jun. That was 400,000 more than in 2011-12, and almost three times the number set a decade ago. During Jun the top outbound destination was the USA with 97,300 travellers, followed by Indonesia with 87,400 and then New Zealand in third place with 82,300 departures. The fastest growing destination for Aussies in the last year was Singapore, up 15%, just ahead of the USA which grew at 14.1% and then the UK, up 12.6%. Italy also grew strongly at 11.7%, while NZ rose 10.5%, in front of Fiji which was up 9%. Arrivals have also grown over the last 12 months, with 6.3 million movements recorded - again the highest on record. In 2012-13 the fastest growing inbound market was China, up 21.3%, followed by India which rose 10.4% year-on-year. Arrivals from most countries increased in 2012-13, with the exception of Japan, down 12.4% and New Zealand, declining 2.8%. NZ was the top source country in Jun 2013 with 92,200 arrivals, and Singapore was in second place with 41,700 visitors to Australia during the month. MEANWHILE, the ABS says it s currently undertaking a rebuild of the Overseas Arrivals and Departures system, with a focus on improving the quality of the data via new methodology which will incorporate considerably more robust imputations for missing traveller data. The new system will be reflected in Jan 2014 figures, scheduled for release on 11 Mar next year.
TRADE ACTIVITY Trade Training -! Trade Shows/Industry Events - Presented RFP to Visit California team in Sacramento Coops - Confirmed ZUJI California Restaurant Month campaign - Planning underway for Travel Associates coop Familiarization Visits - Hosted Ignite Travel in Sacramento, San Francisco and Lake Tahoe - Harvey s Legends coming up in October Distribution of (not including training and shows/events): California IVG (Gate 7): 13 California IVG (TIFS i.e. Insider Signup): 168 California Maps: 0 Collateral: 0 Distribution of (training and shows/events): California IVG: 200 Australian California Guide: Collateral: Running Tally 1047
Meetings COMPANY Qantas Holidays Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels JTG Flight Centre MEETING HIGHLIGHTS Teleconference with Emma Batcheldor to discuss OTP Trip program Met with Rowena Fitzgerald to discuss luxury campaign for California Met with Maria Ferro for catch up on JTG Retail updates Met with Canada Team and Sally McFadyen to discuss upcoming Social Media campaign United Airlines Met with Chris Petty for general catch up Hertz/JTG California Advocates Met with Rosemarie Church, Nicholas Zaferis, Rashelle Toms and Peter Church to discuss new JTG changes and impact moving forward Met with California advocates in West Hollywood Sacramento CVB Met with Nick Leonti for general catch up Virgin Australia Holidays Met with Dennis Basham for general catch up OTA Update Agent sign-ups for August: 4 Agent completions for August: 3 Running Tally 552/1223
DIGITAL UPDATES % HEADLINE/COMMENTS : Visitor Overview August 2013 Statistics Visitcalifornia.com.au Updates
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Social Media Facebook Insights Reach and Frequency % The reach graph shows how many people saw any content about the Visit California Australia page from 1 August 31 August 2013, and where applicable, whether these people were reached though organic, paid, or viral channel. %
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PR HIGHLIGHTS Anna McGahan is working to coordinate her AiF prize winner trip. James Mackay will be available in California to fulfil prize winner obligations of his AiF trip. Opportunity secured to partner with New Idea for media promotion and event in October. Media Trips Journalist Name Outlet Regions Visited Bree Player Shop Til You Drop West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Newport Beach Bruce Ritchie Men s Health Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Napa Bridget Jones Sunday Magazine NZ San Francisco Kylie Bailey New Zealand Woman s Lake Tahoe, San Francisco Day Holly O Sullivan Travel Talk Hollywood, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills Loni Parker Adore Home San Francisco, West Hollywood, Palm Springs, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Highway One Sarah Kate Lynch New Zealand Woman s Day Santa Monica, Venice, Hermosa Beach Media Evaluation Total No of Clippings: 106 Total Circulation: 6,703,956 Total PR Value: USD $1,987,965