Tourism Australia doubles Etihad partnership
Australian-born chief executive James Hogan said Australia is one of Etihad's most popular destinations for business and leisure travellers. Photo: Chris Pearce
Etihad Airways and Tourism Australia have doubled the size of their marketing partnership to $12 million as part of an effort to attract more tourists from the United Kingdom and mainland Europe to our shores.
The three-year deal will now rank equally with a new one signed this week with Singapore Airlines as the third-largest airline marketing partnership with Tourism Australia after Virgin Australia Holdings and Emirates.
The deal, which doubles an initial $6 million agreed in December 2013, will cover a range of joint marketing activities including support for Tourism Australia's Restaurant Australia campaign, which is holding a gala dinner with global media influencers at MONA in Tasmania on Friday night.
Etihad has flown in 20 of the guests for the dinner. It is also planning a major broadcast campaign in the UK in early 2015 alongside Tourism Australia.
Etihad, which is one of the major shareholders in Virgin, has been expanding its air capacity to Australia. It launched its first Perth-Abu Dhabi flights in July and from Junenext year it will upgauge one of its two daily flights between Sydney and Abu Dhabi to an A380, including its exclusive "The Residence" in-flight suite offering.
Australian-born chief executive James Hogan said Australia was one of Etihad's most popular destinations.
"Its appeal among business and leisure travellers – particularly from the UK and Europe – contributes greatly to our Australian operation," he said. "The partnership with Tourism Australia has delivered some innovative campaigns and strong passenger numbers over the past 12 months, and our decision to invest more in marketing Australia is driven by a desire to continue this momentum."
Etihad places particular attention on its in-flight food and beverage offering, with economy class passengers offered three meal choices. In business class, a dedicated food and beverage manager is on hand and in first class, meals are prepared by an in-flight chef. In Etihad's Sydney Airport lounge, it serves a la carte meals as well as a buffet.
Mr Hogan said the Restaurant Australia initiative, meant to showcase Australia's best food and wine, was therefore a natural fit with Etihad's own food and beverage offering with its focus on fresh produce and restaurant-quality dining.
Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan said Etihad was one of his group's most important aviation partners and played a critical role in feeding traffic to Australia's key gateways of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth from its Abu Dhabi hub.
"The work we've done so far with Etihad Airways has proved extremely successful for both parties, including targeted marketing campaigns in the UK, Germany and France, as well strong support for key Australian trade events such as this year's Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE14), held in Cairns," Mr O'Sullivan said.
