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Colorado sees double-digit growth in Aussie visitors

The Colorado Tourism Office has reported that travellers set an all-time spending record of US$22.3 billion on Colorado vacations in 2018 – a 6.7 per cent increase from 2017, and significantly above the average spending increase in the USA of 4.1 per cent year-on-year.

Australian visitors to the state increased by almost 10 per cent and their spend was up nearly 16 per cent compared to 2017.

International travel topped one million visitors for the first time with a total of 1.05 million, representing an increase of 7.44 per cent year on year.

This figure includes 57,693 Australians compared to 52,871 in 2017 – an annual growth from this market of 9.12 per cent. In the past decade, the number of Australians visiting Colorado has increased by 70.28 per cent.

International visitors to the state represented Colorado’s highest-spending traveller, with the average trip expenditure for Colorado’s top overseas markets (Australia, the UK, France, Germany, China and Japan) at $2,438 per person per trip.

Australian spend per trip in 2018 was $3,006 per person – a significant year-on-year increase of 15.85 per cent.

Overnight stays of leisure travellers were up to a record high 19.5 million – a three per cent increase from 2017.

The number of jobs directly supported by the tourism industry was also at a record high of 174,400 – a 1.9 per cent increase year on year.

Bali now home to world’s largest inflatable water park

Floating water park brand Wibit, together with its authorised partner for Indonesia, PT. Ecomarine Indo Pelago, has officially opened the world’s largest inflatable aqua park at Secret Bay in Gilimanuk, Bali.

The record was officially confirmed by a Guinness World Records adjudicator earlier this month, together with Putu Artha, the regent of Jembrana, acting as a witness, and thousands of first conquerors of the aqua park in an opening ceremony.

The new record-breaking aqua park, which is 28.9 square metres in size, spells the letters ‘INDONESIA’ on the water, and is even visible from a plane.

Tourism NT partners with Cotton On for new influencer campaign

Some of the Northern Territory’s most picturesque landscapes will feature in Cotton On Body’s 2019 summer swimwear launch as part of a collaboration with the Australian retailer and Tourism NT.

Inspired by the beauty of our own backyard, the range will be photographed throughout key destinations within the Northern Territory’s Top End, showcasing the region’s natural swimming holes, free-flowing waterfalls and tropical landscapes.

To launch the collaboration, Tourism NT and Cotton On Body have taken a group of six influencers, boasting more than 422,000 Instagram followers collectively, on a trip of-a-lifetime across the Northern Territory’s Top End.

Along the way they’ll be photographed wearing the swimwear range at various iconic swimming locations in the region, promoting the product and the destination to their audiences.

As part of the collaboration, Tourism NT and Cotton On Body will launch a competition on Monday 7 October 2019 that gives one lucky person the chance to win a holiday for two to the Top End.

Entrants will be directed to Cotton On’s website to enter, where they will need to write in 25 words or less ‘why they want to explore our Aussie backyard’. The winning holiday to the NT will replicate the influencer’s Top End itinerary.

Both organisations will promote the swimwear range and competition across their social media channels, website and EDMs, driving interest in Cotton On Body and the Northern Territory.

Queensland’s Dunk Island to remain in Australian hands

Australian-owned international investment and corporate advisory group Mayfair 101 has confirmed it has purchased Queensland’s iconic Dunk Island.

Alongside the purchase of Dunk Island, Mayfair 101 is also under contract to purchase over 200 tourism-related properties in and around Mission Beach as part of plans to revitalise tourism in the area.

The combined value of these property commitments represents an investment of over $180 million.

In a statement, Mayfair 101 said it aims to position Dunk Island and Mission Beach as a tourism mecca that celebrates the precious natural environment and attracts a diverse range of tourists nationally and internationally.

To realise this vision, Mayfair 101 expects to facilitate over $1.6 billion in investment into the Mission Beach region over the next 15 years, creating over 10,500 direct and indirect full time equivalent (FTE) jobs through construction activity. 

‘Refresh Noosa’ program looks to eliminate single-use amenities in Qld accommodation

Tourism Noosa and the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) have partnered with the University of Queensland (UQ) on a new research project looking at the use of single-use plastic mini amenities across the accommodation sector in Queensland.

The project was inspired by Tourism Noosa’s new eco-friendly, refillable range of guest amenities that has been introduced as part of the Refresh Noosa program to eliminate the small, single-use plastic bottles that are generally found in resorts and apartments.

Partnering with the UQ Business School students, the project is looking at the use of single-use mini amenities across Queensland, the wastage associated with these, and the opportunities for businesses to switch to more sustainable and cost-effective, bulk, refillable amenities.

The project commenced in August with the group of students visiting Noosa, interviewing hotel manager Liam Kennedy from Culgoa Point Beach Resort, who has already made the change to the Refresh Noosa bulk amenities, as well as visiting Seahaven Noosa, which is set to trial refillable guest amenities.