Tourism Australia launches Premier Aussie Specialist Program in India

30 October 2018

Tourism Australia has introduced a second tier to its specialist program in India with the introduction of the Premier Aussie Specialist Program. 

Membership in the Premier Aussie Specialist category is an acknowledgement of the destination expertise, insider knowledge and strong ties with the Australian travel industry of Aussie Specialist agents with an established record of selling Australia. 

As part of the launch, 70 agents from across cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Pune have been inducted into the Premier Aussie Specialist Program in India. 

The Premier Aussie Specialist Program offers professional validation for retail agents selling Australian holidays to discerning consumers. As part of the membership, Premier Aussie Specialists are invited to attend exclusive travel industry workshops, market updates and training events hosted by Tourism Australia and Australia's States and Territories.

Speaking at the launch, John O’Sullivan Managing Director of Tourism Australia said the Premier Aussie Specialist Program sought to recognise the invaluable advocacy that travel advisors, who have been selling Australian holidays for many years, deliver for the destination. 

“They have invested significant time and effort in gaining a deeper understanding of the destination in order to create meaningful itineraries for their customers,” said Mr O’Sullivan. 

“This group of elite agents are important contributors to our efforts to make Australia a destination of choice for travellers from India and it is a proud moment for us to congratulate and show our appreciation to these industry friends for their incredible passion and dedication to selling Australia.”

Tourism Australia has also embraced technology for their trade outreach, while the certified Aussie Specialists have special access to a resourceful online toolkit to sell Australian holidays, trade partners are regularly engaged through webinars and e-newsletters. 

In addition, Tourism Australia has been working closely with Key Distribution Partners to reward top performing agents and provides opportunities for select frontline staff and product teams to have a first-hand experience of Australia through their global trade events like Corroboree and the Australian Tourism Exchange.

Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 19.6 per cent for the year ended August 2018 with an influx of 342,000 visitors during the year, making India the 8th largest inbound market for Australia.

The Aussie Specialist Program is an award-winning training program that provides frontline travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia and is supported by all State & Territory tourism partners. It is available in 11 languages across 15 key markets and currently includes over 30,000 qualified Aussie Specialists worldwide more than 2,900 travel agents across India. Further information is available at: www.tourism.australia.com/aussiespecialist.