Tourism Australia's website voted world's best at World Travel Awards 2012
Australia.com has been recognised at this year's World Travel Awards (WTA), being voted World's Leading Tourism Authority Website by more than 220,000 travel agents and other industry professionals from over 175 countries.
- (1888PressRelease) December 19, 2012 - Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the award reflected the national tourism organisation's increasing leadership within digital marketing tourism, and followed a major refresh of the website earlier in the year.
"Here at Tourism Australia, we are lucky enough to have the job of promoting I'd argue the greatest brand in the world, Australia and Australia.com has built up a deserved reputation for the increasing contribution it makes to this important task," Mr McEvoy said.
"With 50 per cent of global consumers were now using digital channels to research, plan and book holidays, having a strong website is essential. Australia.com plays a vital role in telling our story to the world and, as part of our broader strategy to raise our game in the digital space," he said.
Tourism Australia relaunched its popular global website, http://www.australia.com/ in March 2012 with a cleaner design, simpler navigation and additional functionality, aimed at helping international and domestic travellers better research, plan and make the most of an Australian holiday.
Since the re-launch, the site has had more than 8.9m unique visitors - more than the 8.6m that visited last year.
"We now have a website which is more attractive to the eye, stronger in functionality and easier to navigate with rich and engaging content which informs and inspires more people to look to Australia for their next holiday.
"More than 29 per cent of the world's population is online today and this number is expected to grow to five billion people, or 66 per cent by 2020, with one in two consumers using digital channels to make their travel plans.
"These sorts of stats only serve to reinforce the importance of a good website, delivering rich, destination specific and appealing content in an engaging and user-friendly way which helps move the user further towards booking an Australian holiday," Mr McEvoy said.
Tourism Australia was also nominated for World's Leading Tourism Board and World's Leading Destination Marketing Campaign for its current There's nothing like Australia campaign.
The only Australian operators to pick up an award were Terry and Cathy Maloney, the founders and owners of Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa, who were voted World's Leading Eco Resort and Lodge.
Speaking about the award win owner Terry Maloney said, "The ecolodge has many imitators, but no equals. This is clearly shown by winning the World's Leading Eco Resort and Spa at this year's prestigious World Travel Awards.
"To be a winner in the "best of the best" world categories is humbling, however is also testament to the growing appreciation of experiential travel," Mr Maloney said.
"This is the biggest travel event in the global tourism industry. It takes 10 months to judge the country, regional and finally the best of the best in the world. This is a huge opportunity for Australia, Queensland and our region to be in the world travel spotlight.
"It's small physical footprint of land, buildings, staff and guests, already has a huge impact on the preservation of ancient culture, conservation of ancient rainforest and the empowerment of Indigenous people - a true example or the 3 P's - people, planet and profit," Mr Maloney said.
World Travel Awards was founded in 1993 to recognise, acknowledge and reward excellence in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry worldwide.
The votes are cast by travel, tourism and hospitality professionals and the consumer traveller whether leisure or business. A vote cast by a registered travel agency employee carries a weighting of two whilst the consumer vote counts as one vote.
About Tourism Australia
Tourism Australia is responsible for promoting Australia world-wide as the world's best destination for business and leisure. Through a wide range of activities Tourism Australia aims to raise awareness of Australia's unique attributes which attract and entice visitors to experience our country. Our activities in 23 markets, including Australia, include advertising, public relations and media programs, trade shows and programs for the tourism industry, consumer promotions, online communications and research.
In November 2010 Tourism Australia unveiled a new strategic approach for Australian tourism - the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential - to improve the industry's performance and competitiveness. The 2020 Tourism Industry Potential is a 10 year vision for the industry which aims to grow the overnight expenditure generated by tourism to as much as $140 billion by 2020.
To achieve the 2020 Potential, Tourism Australia operates in key markets around the world offering the greatest opportunities for tourism growth including Australia. This includes established markets such as the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Germany, Korea, and China; growth markets such as Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India; Thailand, and Gulf Countries.
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