Quicksilver Group News
December 17th, 2014Quicksilver Group to partner with Tourism Australia in latest China tourism push
The Chinese New Year of the Sheep is fast gaining momentum and Cairns is well placed to capture the increasing visitation to Australia from this growing market. In addition to the scheduled airline arrivals there will be an additional 5 charter flights during Chinese New Year.
Tony Baker, Managing Director of the Quicksilver Group recently returned from China following the opening of the company’s 14th “Cairns and Great Barrier Reef” branded specialist retail travel shop.
As part of the visit, Mr Baker announced that The Quicksilver Group had agreed to enter a strategic partnership marketing agreement with Tourism Australia and GZL International Travel, one of 31 key distribution partners (KDPs) recently appointed by the national tourism agency in China.
The Quicksilver Group is leading a consortium – known as The China Sales Group – who, together with Tourism Australia and GZL International Travel, have agreed to fund a program of joint marketing activities aimed at tapping into the lucrative, high yield Chinese market. The Quicksilver Group consortium is the first group of Australian tourism businesses to form such a partnership, as part of Tourism Australia’s new China KDP program.
Mr Baker said the announcement of the partnership followed months of discussions and would assist the companies involved in their continuing focus on China.
“Over the past nine years we have been focused on branding key retail travel shops across 10 cities, and this partnership is further recognition of our commitment to engaging with our key distribution partners and to ensure a high knowledge and awareness of the Cairns touring products and accommodation,” he said.
Tourism Australia Deputy CEO, Frances-Anne Keeler, said it was pleasing to see leading Australian tourism operators such as The Quicksilver Group, and those involved in the consortium embracing its Key Distribution Partners (KDP) program as a means of proactively targeting China’s rapidly emerging middle classes.
“Our KDP program forms a core component of Tourism Australia’s distribution strategy in China, where we are seeing a big shift away from lower yielding group tours to a more independent, higher spending Chinese visitor, seeking higher quality visitor experiences. The Quicksilver Group is exactly the calibre of Australian tourism operator who we believe can really benefit through this new distribution model, ultimately delivering new and innovative itineraries and programs for Australia’s most valuable inbound tourism market,” she said.
The China Sales Group brings together a range of quality Great Barrier Reef and Cairns land-based touring products and accommodation, including Quicksilver, Great Adventures, CAPTA, Hot Air, Seawalker Green Island, GBR Helicopters, Accor Hotels, Captain Cook Cruises and Kingfisher Bay Resort amongst others.
