AUSTRALIA’S Northern Territory (NT), known for its Kakadu National Park and the iconic Ayers Rock, wants to woo more Singapore tourists.
The state has set a target of attracting 30 per cent more Singaporeans, up from last year’s 6,000. This is a fraction of the more than 300,000 Singaporeans who visited Australia last year.
The plan is to introduce more flights to the state capital Darwin and to work out travel deals with tour agents.
Australian Tourism Minister Matt Conlan led a team of tourist attraction operators to Singapore on Tuesday to meet outbound travel agents and airlines.
The aim is to create more awareness among travel agents here about what the state has to offer so that they can sell it to their customers.
“Perhaps we have undersold ourselves in the past. There is capacity to market ourselves more,” said Mr Conlan.
He added that Singapore has been identified as a growth market as Australia is popular among Singaporeans and about eight in 10 visit the land more than once. There were also talks with airlines such as SilkAir to have daily flights from Singapore to Darwin.
SilkAir, which has been flying there since last March, operates flights to the city four times a week.
Budget airline Jetstar, which had been plying the route before SilkAir, has nine flights a week.
Mr Tony Mayell, chief executive of Tourism NT, said SilkAir’s arrival had attracted more Singaporeans to the state – from 5,600 in 2011 to 6,000 last year.
Top tourist activities in Northern Territory include visiting World Heritage sites such as the Kakadu and Uluru national parks, experiencing aboriginal culture, spending time in cafes and shopping at local boutiques in the city.
But travel agents who attended Tuesday’s session said tour packages to Northern Territory are not popular with travellers here due to the state’s hot tropical climate and long travelling time between attractions.
It could appeal more to those who prefer the outdoors and repeat visitors to Australia who have already visited other parts of the country.
New travel packages, which include discounted airfares and tours to Kakadu and Litchfield national parks, will be launched at the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore fair next month.
kailing@sph.com.sg
Australia"s Northern Territory aims for more S"pore tourists
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