Media release

Hundreds of travel agents from around the world have gathered in Cairns to gain insight into Australia’s world class tourism offerings at G’day Australia which will run until Thursday 12 October 2023, providing specialist agents the chance to meet with Australian tourism operators and experience our world class tourism offerings first-hand.

The 300 travel agents participating in Tourism Australia’s workshop and familiarisation event are qualified Aussie Specialist Agents from retail outlets and key wholesalers across 15 international tourism markets. The Aussie Specialists will meet with around 130 Australian tourism operators during the workshop and networking events.

Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, said the experiences and knowledge that travel agents gain through the event will give them greater confidence to sell Australian holidays to the millions of travellers abroad.

“International travellers are returning to our shores in droves. However, with global competition for tourists as strong as ever, we need to keep working hard to grow demand. Events such as G’day Australia, combined with Tourism Australia’s global Come and Say G’day campaign, will help to do just that,” Minister Farrell said.

“G’day Australia gives hundreds of travel agents the chance to see our iconic destinations and world-class tourism offerings for themselves, giving them greater inspiration to sell Australia’s huge variety of unique, high-quality tourism experiences to their international customers.”

Tourism Australia Executive General Manager of Commercial and Business Events Australia, Robin Mack, said in addition to the three day training workshop, all of the frontline travel sellers attending the event are taking part in a four-night familiarisation program which covers destinations around the country.

“The travel agents taking part in G’day Australia already know a lot about Australia through the Aussie Specialist Program, but there is nothing like experiencing the breadth and depth of our tourism offering first hand, to give the confidence to sell more, and that is what the familiarisation program does,” Mr Mack said.

“When our Aussie Specialists have joined events like this in the past, 100 per cent of agents have walked away saying they intended to sell more of Australia and that is what we need as we work to encourage even more travellers to plan and book an Australian holiday.”

Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said G’day Australia was a terrific opportunity for Queensland’s tourism industry.  

“G’day Australia is an incredible head-start for maximising the rebuild of Queensland’s international visitor economy on our runway the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“All 300 international travel agents sampling Queensland’s awe-inspiring visitor experiences are important for showing visitors around the world why this State is Australia’s favourite holiday destination.”   

Member for Cairns and Assistant Tourism Minister Michael Healy said G’day Australia was one of the first major events at the newly expanded and renovated Cairns Convention Centre.

“Having some of the world’s most influential travel agents here in Cairns is tipped to deliver an instant $2 million for the visitor economy and priceless international exposure for the Tropical North,” Mr Healy said.

“We want to make this week an unforgettable experience for travel agents selling Queensland’s world-class bucket list itineraries to international holidaymakers who stay longer and spend more.”    

Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen said the Tropical North Queensland tourism industry welcomed the 300 Aussie Specialists and was making sure they became global advocates for the destination.

“Today (Monday) these front-line travel agents are taking part in diverse itineraries experiencing the Great Barrier Reef, the Wet Tropics rainforest and Indigenous culture highlighting the region’s spectacular World Heritage Areas and world-class tourism infrastructure,” Mr Olsen said.

“We are sharing as much as we can of the region’s 2500 products and experiences to enable the Aussie Specialists to understand the destination’s story and share it with the travellers they advise.”

This is Tourism Australia’s first international mega familiarisation and workshop event to be held since 2019. The event pre-pandemic was held for Asia and Western markets in alternate years, while this year’s G’day Australia event will be global, covering all key international markets.

G’day Australia 2023 will be delivered in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland and supported by Tourism Tropical North Queensland. The pre and post-event familiarisation program is delivered with support from State and Territory Organisations.

About the Aussie Specialist Program

The Aussie Specialist Program is Tourism Australia’s global frontline travel seller training program run in cooperation with Australia’s State and Territory Tourism Organisations. The award winning program provides international travel sellers the knowledge and skills to sell Australia more effectively. There are currently over 30,000 qualified globally.