Corporate Travel News

Queensland State Government Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones reported (06-Sep-2017) China remained Queensland's largest market in terms of total visitors and expenditure for the 12 months to Jun-2017, accounting for USD1 billion (USD801 million) or almost a fifth of the state's total tourism expenditure. New Zealand remained Queensland's second largest market, with growth both in visitor numbers up 6.8% to 459,000 and expenditure to more than AUD586 million (USD470 million). Japan jumped two places to be Queensland's third largest market, with expenditure increasing by 18% to AUD430 million (USD344 million). Other markets that grew strongly include Germany and India. [more - original PR]

WOW air announced (06-Sep-2017) plans to launch seasonal three times weekly Reykjavik-Dallas/Fort Worth service from 24-May-2018, operating with Airbus A330-300 equipment. The carrier will be Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's 16th international airline partner. According to OAG, the carrier is the first operator on the route. [more - original PR]

South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) reported (06-Sep-2017) China overtook the US as the second largest market for inbound travel for the 12 months to Jun-2017. Chinese arrivals rose 56% to 56,000 and expenditure rose 74% to AUD352 million (USD282 million). The UK remained the largest market with 66,000 visits. US arrivals grew 13% to 54,000. Overall international visitors spent AUD1.1 billion (USD881 million) in the State for the period, an increase of 12%. [more - original PR]

Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan reported (05-Sep-2017) tourism industry sentiment and confidence in the Gold Coast region "continues to grow ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games", and recent figures released by Tourism Australia "indicate the international visitor trend largely driven by China - shows no signs of slowing down." Gold Coast international arrivals for the year to Jun-2017 were:

• China: 303,000, +7.3% year-on-year;
• New Zealand: 206,000, +5.4;
• UK: 70,000, +2.5%;
• Japan: 68,000, +19.5%;
• US: 41,000, +22.3. [more - original PR]

Tigerair Australia welcomed (06-Sep-2017) its 25 millionth passenger. The carrier operated more than 200,000 services since commencing operations in Nov-2007. To celebrate the milestone, the airline launched a promotion to offer discounted one way fares for travel between late Jan-2018 and late Jun-2018. [more - original PR]

SAS saved (05-Sep-2017) SEK225 million (EUR23 million) during Q3FY2017, ended 31-Jul-2017, under its efficiency enhancement programme. Improvement measures include:

• Outsourcing of Cimber to CityJet;
• Reduced manning with cabin crew on intercontinental routes and increased use of the resource pool;
• Improved planning with fewer administration days for pilots;
• Continued implementation of Lean in technical maintenance in Copenhagen and Stockholm;
• New agreement covering property related services;
• Improved planning with ground handling operations, whereby individual employees perform more duties;
• Optimisation of engine maintenance.

The carrier expects to save SEK0.7 billion (EUR73 million) in FY2016/17 with the programme, SEK0.9 billion (EUR94 million) in FY2017/18, SEK1 billion (EUR105 million) in FY2018/19 and SEK0.4 billion (EUR42 million) in FY2019/20. [more - original PR]

Tourism Research Australia (TRA) reported the following international visitor spending by state for the year to Jun-2017:

• New South Wales: AUD10.1 billion (USD8.1 billion), +11% year-on-year;
• Victoria: AUD7.5 billion (USD6 billion), +11%;
• Queensland: AUD5.2 billion (USD4.2 billion), +3%;
• Western Australia AUD2.5 billion (USD2.0 billion), +8%;
• South Australia: AUD1.1 billion (USD878 million), +12%;
• Tasmania: AUD457 million (USD365 million), +24%;
• Northern Territory: AUD485 million (USD387 million), +16%;
• ACT: AUD535 million (USD427 million), +27%. [more - original PR]

Qatar's Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics reported (Sep-2017) visitor arrivals from Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) declined 18.4% to 656,681 in Jul-2017, while visitation from other Arab countries decreased 8.9% to 121,758 visitors year-on-year. Approximately 1,039,114 visitors entered Qatar via air in Jul-2017, compared to 1,048,504 in Jul-2016. [more - original PR]

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) proposed (05-Sep-2017) changes to the flight test and proficiency check standards. CASA reported examiners have found the current format of modifications and references to be an inflexible means by which to apply the flight test and proficiency check standards. Sometimes aircraft equipment, operational practice or location can lead to difficulties in applying the standards. CASA has also found instances where several test and check items were addressing a common activity or manoeuvre, but used different terms. As a result, CASA is proposing to update the Schedule 5 and 6 flight test and proficiency check standards. [more - original PR]

Queensland State Government Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones congratulated (05-Sep-2017) Mantra Group CEO Bob East on his appointment to the chair of Tourism Australia. Mr East moves into the role as Chair of Tourism Australia after being appointed to the board in 2016. He has been CEO of the Mantra Group since 2007. Ms Jones said a new chair of the Tourism & Events Queensland board would be appointed in the near future. [more - original PR]