SOME OF of the North Coast region’s tourism products and experiences were on show recently at the country’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event, Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).
Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Major Events and Member for Tweed Geoff Provest said the 40th annual ATE is a very powerful platform for the North Coast to showcase its offerings to a global audience.
“ATE is Australia’s premier tourism trade event and a great opportunity to put our state on the map, therefore I’m delighted the North Coast was well represented by this year’s delegation of industry sellers,” Mr Provest said.
“There’s no shortage of memorable things to see and do on the North Coast and I’m committed to ensuring our community gets its fair share of the record tourist dollars and investment coming into our state.”
Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres said ATE provides a forum for the state’s tourism providers to show products, make contacts and negotiate deals.
“ATE is a flagship event on the tourism industry’s calendar and through the work of Destination NSW we had our state’s tourism businesses, wholesalers and retailers front and centre with international buyers and media from around the globe,” Mr Ayres said.
“Tourism is big business and a vital industry to our state’s economy employing 171,000 people which accounts for one in 22 jobs in NSW.”
Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said ATE provides the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency with the opportunity to sell the state to the world.
“On behalf of the New South Wales Government we have delivered consistent and continual year on year growth in visitor numbers, nights and expenditure in NSW as a direct result of partnerships with industry,” Ms Chipchase said.
ATE is facilitated by Tourism Australia and took place at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from April 8 to 12.
The global event was attended by around 1,500 Australian seller delegates from approximately 550 companies, 650 key buyer delegates from over 30 countries, and 70 international and Australian media. The event includes a combination of scheduled business appointments and networking events.
Northern Rivers tourism operators that were showcased at ATE 2019 included Tweed Eco Tours, Tweed Tourism Company, Mount Warning Tours, The Byron at Byron, Cape Byron Kayaks, Let’s Go Surfing Byron Bay and Byron Bay and Beyond.
