Insights from Destination Australia 2024

The Destination Australia 2024 conference by Tourism Australia on Wednesday 13th March kicked off talking about throwing shrimps on the barbie, a 40 year anniversary of that first iconic international tourism campaign with Paul Hogan. Makes us all now feel a little old, right?!

I remember being at the launch of the “Come Say G’day” campaign, standing somewhat awkwardly (an almost teenager) next to my mum who worked for Ansett Airlines Corporate travel for 30 glorious years.

Image ID: Pip Harrison standing at the Podium smiling and saying G’day to the 800 pax attendees plus another couple of hundred online viewers

Fast forward 40 years, and the theme of the day is around the next chapter for sustainable growth. I won’t go into all the statistics presented at the conference, as Tourism Australia will publish soon from this fascinating day full of insights, and there were a few of us Australian Regional Tourism Ambassadors walking the halls & taking notes on the areas we all found important!

Below I’ve covered the sessions that I felt related directly to regional tourism for potential new strategies, trends and products.

The ever-energising Pip Harrison, Managing Director of Tourism Australia, in her keynote showed a promising rebound in visitor numbers, having already achieved 81% of pre-pandemic levels in December 2023. Tourism Australia expects our visitation to be back to 100% by the end of this year, though with work to be done in connectivity and balance to other regional areas outside main tourism hubs & airport locations.

Infrastructure & Connectivity

Tourism infrastructure investment was mentioned as a need, with increasing competition from international tourism facilities & new infrastructure being built, all in the race to capture the lucrative leisure & high yield travel market.

In good news, the current high costs of international in-bound flights are starting to come down due to more competition in the inbound aviation space.

Takeaways: this resurgence of inbound tourism highlights the need now for strategic focus on rebalancing regional capacity & visitation and enhancing aviation connectivity to regional areas, and to promote to the leisure & high-yield visitors, now that the VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market has reached good numbers.

Sustainability Focus

With tourism accounting for 11% of global emissions, there is a push for the industry to consider the path towards more sustainable practices, with discussions around environmental stewardship and ethical considerations around reporting.

The impending ESG reporting requirements in Europe, set to take effect on July 1st, gives opportunity for Australian businesses to become aware of and adapt to Scope 1 & 2 emissions regulations (the easier ones for us!), whilst considering the complexities of Scope 3 & 4, related to supply chains and transportation, which are more difficult due to our isolated island location & long travel connections.

Because of this, focus was discussed on how destinations and businesses could demonstrate on-the-ground sustainability efforts (Scope 1 and 2). The global sustainable destination index, with Melbourne and Sydney ranking around 30th and Brisbane around 35th, serves as a benchmark for evaluating progress and setting goals for improvement, as other countries become more competitive in this space with their reporting.

The Evolution of Consumer International Aviation Travel Preferences

A shift in consumer preferences towards more sustainable and personalised travel experiences was again a recurrent theme, similar to 2023’s projections.

Demand for direct, ultra-long-haul flights, exemplified by routes like Paris-Perth, Sydney Rome & the new Melbourne – Istanbul flight partnered with Turkish Air & Virgin into regional Europe, highlights a growing preference for convenience and reduced travel times.

Though to take into consideration … even though this is welcome news for extra capacity into Australia with more seats availability and more aviation competition compared to previous years, it also gives more opportunity for outbound travel to Europe, which presents newly connected destinations and emerging tourism products such as new medical tourism opportunities.

The Pursuit of Wellness into Hospitality

There was a dynamic discussion around the rise in interest for medical tourism-style experiences that offer both physical and mental rejuvenation, though going beyond a gentle yoga or forest-bathing experience … the SKIFT presentation talked about biohacking retreats incorporating extreme wellness methods with qualified clinician staff, fast weight loss, fast-nutritionals as intravenous treatments, alongside nature-based activities.

This really puts a new element into adventure tourism as visitors test out their renewed youthful-feeling/looking bodies, after some IV therapy, high-dose nutrition, behavioural psychology etc.

Yes it all sounds very futuristic and a little bio-scary. Though my own hospitality & experiences business in the south of France, by the serene shores of the Mediterranean in the small yet very progressive village of Saint Tropez, is seeing a new demographic of wellness tourists in the low and shoulder seasons. We have hosted wellbeing retreats with yoga, nutrition, local gastronomy & cultural experiences for almost two decades. Though we are also starting to welcome guests who have travelled on from countries such as Turkey where they’ve undergone a medical procedure, and then travel onwards for their rest and recovery period in solitude (or as a small group) somewhere a little more familiar (and perceived as safer), such as France. There’s good reason why we call the national Turkish Air carrier “Turkish Hairlines“!

Takeaways: What does this mean for Australian regional tourism? We’ve got some of the safest medical practices & procedures in the world here in Australia, and can offer privacy, rejuvenation and discerning experiences for this group of wellness travellers. Is there a medical treatment centre in your region you can partner with, to create private itineraries and experiences,for this future market?

It’s a very small exclusive travel demographic at present, though as we learnt in the marketing session at Destination Australia, it’s not the customers who are booking in the short term we’re wanting to catch the eye of, it’s future visitors who are planning larger, life-changing experiences down the line a little. This medical tourism demographic will become more popular, especially in safe destinations such as Australia.

Other Emerging Trends

High-Value Young Travellers

An emerging segment exhibiting a high demand for premium, wellness-oriented travel experiences amid a loneliness epidemic in youth spending too much alone online.

The role of generational demographics in shaping travel trends was also discussed:

There’s teenagers on socials influencing the travel decisions of family, especially when it comes to tour, event, or celebrity tourism, known on socials as #SetJet and #GigTrip. You can read about this more on my previous post here in Australian Regional Tourism Hub.

Technology and Distribution

The rise of AI in creating complex itineraries has boosted OTA bookings, while travel planners remain popular for crafting high-end, personalised experiences.

Agritourism

An increasing interest in immersive agricultural experiences highlights the sentiment for authentic, regional tourism offerings and full itinerary-experiences beyond just the purchase of the food grown on the farm.

Business Event Destination Trends

There may be a geo-political shift away from the Atlantic to the Pacific (APAC) for business event destinations. A real growth opportunity in business is India market, though this market boks very last minute, even a business event is within 6 weeks for the full “bid-win-deliver” event process.

Visitor Demographics

Who is planning on travelling soon?

Visitors from the USA – this market is a positive one for Australia … they’ve been to Europe and they are now looking at further-afield destinations. They don’t seem to be worrying about cost-of-living when it comes to a bucket list trip, if they’re in that demographic of long-haul travel fanciers.

Japanese visitors are finding it expensive to travel at present, with the Yen being weak against the AUD$, so their numbers will not increase until the Yen does.

The big opportunity is the increase of the Indian middle class and their influence on the global travel market. Hotels and travel providers are adapting their offerings to cater to these emerging demographics, emphasising value-based, culturally-attuned experiences, as Indians love travelling in groups with family and friends, are highly social, and want to connect with community at the destination.

Takeaways: consider the cultural neighbourhoods in your destination and how to incorporate their welcome and cultural affinities to visitors from India, and other re-emerging markets of Korea & Vietnam, & China.

Broadening the Diversity of Accessibility of Tourism

An inspiring panel of speakers encouraged our industry to broaden its approach to ensure travel is feasible and welcoming for everyone, tapping into a larger market and reinforcing social responsibility. Considering how to design inclusive experiences from the outset, were discussed as effective strategies to enhance accessibility. As the panel relayed to the audience …if some visitors are ‘physically’ being left behind, there’s money possibly being left on the table, excluding your business from being considered in their plans, if you are not transparent enough about what you can or cannot accommodate.

Takeaways: Simple yet important measures can be added into daily operations … incorporating accessibility questions into booking processes: “do you have any access needs?” – a simple question, similar to “do you have any dietary requirements”. This gives the opportunity to create a conversation around all needs where visible or not, to communicate and clarify what your business can or cannot accommodate, being respectful of visitor’s needs, especially as not all disabilities can be seen.

The Next Chapter

Looking back, the main takeaways from Destination Australia 2024 were sustainability, enhancing accessibility, and tapping into evolving consumer demographics & preferences – key pillars for sustainable growth.

Growth without sustainability is not all that great for communities, as the Destination Australia 2024 sessions & theme highlighted.

What’s hot for promoting in 2024… seeking to uncover undiscovered regions, Australian food and wine, & cultural / indigenous experience.

With these insights from the conference in mind, the end of the day had a collective call to action for the Australian tourism community tourism to innovate, collaborate, and drive forward together with a shared vision around these, to remain competitive in an ever-evolving landscape of domestic and international tourism.

Author of Article

Katrina Denoux (M.Sc) feels lucky to be able to combine her two loves, travel & education as an Ambassador for Regional Tourism Australia, and her role as Learning Teaching & Innovation Manager at the International College of Management Sydney, furthering the international & domestic student experience in tourism, hospitality & event degrees & employability in Australia. She specialises in the experience economy, wellness tourism, & sustainability; as an academic professor & speaker on the international insights circuit.

Katrina is also a tourism practitioner & registered health provider with an experiential accommodation business, Villa Tropez, with award-winning heritage, nature-led venues in Europe and Australia, & has been in the wellbeing & sustainability tourism space as a leader for 20 years.