Speakers Announced for Tourism Australia Summit in Los Angeles

As part of the G’Day USA 2014 program, Tourism Australia has named the speakers for the two-day Australia Tourism Summit, which will run from January 9 to 10, 2014, at the Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows in Los Angeles. The summit brings together thought leaders from tourism, luxury brands and media to share the latest trends and best marketing practices.  

The Tourism Summit will have 44 speakers including executives from ITR Economics, Google, MMGY Global, American Express Publishing, several media companies and Australian chef Curtis Stone who will be one of the keynote luncheon speakers. Topics range from consumer luxury trends and changes in travel planning and booking to working in the new collaborative economy and why things go viral. 

As a forum to share knowledge and provide actionable insights, the Tourism Summit is designed to help all those interested in US tourism to Australia grow their businesses and collectively achieve Australia’s Tourism 2020 goals.

The invitation-only event is complimentary for select industry leaders including wholesalers, consortia, retail agents, online travel agencies, Australian product and airlines. With nearly 200 attendees, the summit promotes networking with existing and potential business partners including hosted cocktail hours by event partners Destination New South Wales and the South Australian Tourism Commission showcasing Australia’s food and wine.
“In its second year, the Australia Tourism Summit is the ‘can’t miss’ event for industry leaders involved with or looking to get involved with US tourism to Australia,” said Jane Whitehead, Tourism Australia Vice President, the Americas.  “We’ve seen continued growth in US travel to Australia, with visitor numbers up 5.6 percent for the year to October and visitor spend up 8 percent for the year to September.”

The US is Australia’s third most valuable tourism market, with total expenditure reaching A$2.5 billion for the 12 months to March 2013 – a 10 percent growth over 2012. The Tourism 2020 strategy estimates the US market has the potential to grow to between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion in expenditure by 2020.

Registration closes on Friday, January 3 and remaining seats are limited. A complete list of speakers can be found at www.tourism.australia.com/gdayusa