Tourism Australia Highlights Authentic Aboriginal Experiences

Tourism Australia recently introduced the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program, a marketing, mentoring and training program that highlights 20 small business from across Australia that have been chosen to represent Aboriginal tourism to the world at large.

“We know that many international travellers want to experience Australian indigenous culture first-hand,” said Tourism Australia chairman Rick Allert. “It has been a challenge for our industry and consumers to find exactly which tour or camp they could add to their itinerary.”

Australian tourism specialists welcomed the new program.

“It’s about time,” said Steve Lawson, proprietor of St. Armands Travel.

Marion Huiberts of Worldview Travel in California told Travel Market Report that in general Americans are “quite interested” in experiencing Aboriginal culture, though some are more so than others.

“With Tourism Australia focusing more on this area of travel, and the subsequent marketing, it will bring this in front of clients and hopefully pique their interest,” Huiberts said.

Travel agents need to be prepared to take advantage of the new awareness, and the new offerings.

“For the travel agent who is really familiar with Australia, this Aboriginal focus is wonderful and they will try to incorporate it into clients’ bookings,” she said.

For agents with less experience and familiarity with selling Australia, they can use the Aboriginal tourism options as a selling point.

“These days so many people don’t want to travel ‘like the Joneses’ and want to do something different from everyone else. Consequently the agent can benefit by suggesting some of these different options.”

This also gives the customer the impression that the agent really knows Australia and knows different ways to see and experience the country.

However, Cathy Holler, vice president, member sales & service at Virtuoso, a strong partner of Tourism Australia, said that most first-time Australia visitors will be more interested in seeing the “icons” of Australia than having in-depth Aboriginal experiences.

These clients may not want anything more than to see a dance or music performance, or to visit an Aboriginal museum or art gallery or attend a themed meal event.
Culturally-minded people will be more likely to seek out authentic Aboriginal experiences, she noted. Additionally, Holler told TMR that a growing trend among Virtuoso clients is the desire to see how their money is being used to support communities and causes.

All the Aboriginal tourism options promoted by Tourism Australia are operated by, and support the local Aboriginal communities, so they are viable choices for such clients. And that’s where knowledge about the Tourism Champions program becomes important.

Part of the focus of the Indigenous Tourism Champions program will be to work with the 20 business to make sure they are represented and profiled in the global tourism sales distribution system.

As part of its effort, Australia Tourism has released the Indigenous Tourism Champions guide, designed to give travel sellers more information on export-ready experiences they can offer to their clients.

The guide and information about the experiences will soon be available on the Australia agent specialist Web site, www.aussiespecialist.com.

There is also a National Indigenous Tourism Product Manual available on demand on the site.

Aussie Specialist

To learn more about Australia and to become certified as a specialist, travel agents can take the online Aussie Specialist training course, which includes some training on Aboriginal tourism.

The Aussie Specialist Program is managed by Tourism Australia in conjunction with the country’s eight State and Territory tourism organizations. The Program is designed to help agents sell Australia more effectively, increase the number and value of Australia bookings and earn higher commissions by booking all of clients’ arrangements before they travel to Australia.

The course is divided into several modules including “Australian Experiences,” “Travel Essentials” and “Itineraries.” After specialist qualification has been reached, travel sellers can continue their online training by completing advanced modules on each of Australia’s States and Territories, niche travel and industry suppliers.

To qualify as a specialist, agents must complete four core modules and get 85% or more correct on the quiz questions scattered throughout the modules, and pass a final quiz.

For more information, travel sellers can visit www.aussiespecialist.com, e-mail hotline@tourism.australia.com or call (800) 388-4662.