Instantly I started thinking about logistics and how it would all work, is our convention centre big enough? How would people react to Cairns being a a bit further away at the top of Queensland? I also wondered what it would be like to have ATE in your own town since I’d always travelled to ATE in the past. As it turned out these were just the things that made it one of the best if not THE best ATE I’ve attended to date, below are some of the reasons why!
It’s big business Cairns style
It felt like this year at ATE14 a lot of delegates gave into the tropical vibe and instead of seeing suits everywhere there were shorts, some tropical shirts and a whole lot of polo’s, just how we like it up here in the tropical north. It’s convenient too given the lack of cold here that’s usually felt in the southern states during ATE. Cairns feels like more of a holiday destination than a corporate one and rightly so since it’s the main industry here. That didn’t however distract people from the fact that most of the biggest tourism businesses from around the world were attending and everyone was here to build relationships and do business.
The layout was quite different this year with a separate section set up beside the convention centre to cater for the sheer size of ATE with approximately 2000 people attending every year. Sections A and B were inside the convention centre and had Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Canberra. Sections C, D and E were in the second area and held the Queensland, Northern Territory and Tasmania crew. The set up was very easy to follow, meetings close and everyone keen to talk and work together. The whole schedule felt very relaxed but we managed to get so much achieved in each meeting which at the end of the day is why we’re all there. ATE was made paperless (to an extent) by using E Connect Australia which made things quite streamlined and allowed businesses to share the most relevant info and sales material online to increase productivity and decrease waste. It’s great to see such a large event evolving and adapting and still leading tourism in Australia.
The little things made a big impact
This year a restriction was put on booth sizes for the sellers and I didn’t hear one complaint about it. I actually think it put everyone on the same playing field and put the focus on building and maintaining strong relationships and the business at hand. Not to mention there will now be more money in the kitty for staff Christmas parties for those who usually have a big set up at ATE. To me it made the little things stand out even more. For example the Breathalyser we got from Bridgeclimb, some of the cool and creative USB sticks like the Key for Airlie Beach Hotel or the boomerang from Waitoc. We decided to try something different ourselves this year and use round business cards to match our logo and we got a lot of great feedback on them.
Lunch and the breaks were quite different too with lunch spread out around ATE allowing people to eat where they want to and share lunch with people they want to do business with or catch up with. Granted the big shows and presentations that have been done during lunch in past years has been impressive and entertaining and very enjoyable but it was interesting to see how it works in a different way.
As usual ATE turns it on with the events starting from the very beginning with the welcome function right through the closing party. Meeting new friends and renewing acquaintances from past ATE’s is always a highlight for me. Since I suffer from a severe case of FOMO I try to attend as many of these as possible. The official welcome event was a short walk from the convention centre and there were Queensland representatives welcoming us the whole way to the cruise liner terminal. A ukulele band serenaded us as we entered and there was food and drinks aplenty, personally I spent quite a lot of time at the seafood tables and met some great people there. Cairns showed off its tourism might with GBR Heli flying 6 helicopters back and forwards past the terminal in formation and soon after the reef boats came past and gave everyone a show representing the claim of being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
Epic events……all within walking distance
This all started for me on the Sunday at the New Media Workshop which was very informative and up to date and just one day of the IMM (International Media Marketplace) program help in Palm Cove from the 9th – 11th. For many others buyers it would have started with pre ATE famils which unfortunately I didn’t take part in this year but then I’ve spent a long time making the most of Cairns. IMM gave those who attended an up to date insight into the top media campaigns from around Australia and some hints and tips from the top social media players in Australian Tourism. A couple of quick takeaways…..use Instagram for your business (follow Lauren Bath and see the reach she has), SEO is not dead, it has just evolved with online travel. Get creative and engage with your customers and help them tell their stories and work with those who love to travel our country like we all do!As usual ATE turns it on with the events starting from the very beginning with the welcome function right through the closing party. Meeting new friends and renewing acquaintances from past ATE’s is always a highlight for me. Since I suffer from a severe case of FOMO I try to attend as many of these as possible. The official welcome event was a short walk from the convention centre and there were Queensland representatives welcoming us the whole way to the cruise liner terminal. A ukulele band serenaded us as we entered and there was food and drinks aplenty, personally I spent quite a lot of time at the seafood tables and met some great people there. Cairns showed off its tourism might with GBR Heli flying 6 helicopters back and forwards past the terminal in formation and soon after the reef boats came past and gave everyone a show representing the claim of being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
The rest of the week lived up to expectations but one thing that stood out for me was that most of the venues were walking distance from the convention centre and all the events could be reached easily on foot. One morning the Virgin Australia team and AFL Cairns put on an AFL kick around at 6am which was a lot of fun and followed by a swim in the lagoon made a great start to day 2. The bulk of the events however were held in the evenings, each with a different theme and held by different states and businesses to represent everything Australia has to offer. Tourism Australia held an indigenous function at the Hilton showcasing the impressive indigenous tourism on offer, the Potbelleez played at the Salthouse (nice work Tourism NSW, almost topped Sneaky Sound System last year), Greg Zammit put on a great shindig at the Attic upstairs from Gilligan’s and the Bulls Masters were in town so if you got over to the Rattle N Hum for that you would have met them and seen Andrew Dineen and Craig McLaurin cranking out their tunes. I’m pretty sure Andrew spread a rumour that Bernard Fanning would be playing there so everyone would catch their gig!! Raging Thunder put on an Epic 30th Birthday Party and of course GayTE was loud, proud and a lot of fun as usual and was held at the Velvet Underground night club at the Casino. Velvet served as Club Accor for the duration of ATE and I’d have to say it was a great venue for it. Tourism Aus did well bring Zana Jayne up from Newcastle to play every night at the Salt House, she had an amazing voice and was nice enough to play her uke and sing for a group of us all the way from the Salt House to the Attic one night!
A funny little story before moving on. I was attending the Tourism SA function prior to the Raging Thunder party and found myself talking to a well dressed lady, nice hair with a scarf on and looking great. She was obviously dressed for the event Tourism SA had put on promoting their fine food and wine. Both of us had wine in one hand and delicious nibblies in the other. I couldn’t help but notice the rain getting harder and harder and all of a sudden mid sentence, the tent roof opened and a mother load of water came splashing down hard on both of us. Now when I say both of us it covered half of me but my new found friend was drenched from head to toe. The whole place went quiet with shock and she pointed at me and said ‘it’s your fault’ but then we both started laughing. Everyone at this point was either in shock and silence or in fits of laughter as the ever present and gracious host of the Salt House, Olivia helped dry her and wipe some of the makeup off that was running down her face. I spent the next couple of hours a bit wet but it served as a reminder to not stand under the edge of a tent, a lesson I thought I learned years ago! I haven’t stop laughing about that one.
The final night and closing event was the icing on the cake, the cream on the pie, the…….well you know what I mean. Restaurant Australia was the theme and the food was to die for. That’s after you walked the red carpet lined with Virgin Australia flight attendants, grabbed a beverage and food on arrival and stepped inside a venue set up to impress, inspire and confirm for the top travel companies that Australia is the amazing holiday destination we all love. They played the Restaurant Australia video and everyone enjoyed it while sampling some of the best food and beverages from around the country.
A funny little story before moving on. I was attending the Tourism SA function prior to the Raging Thunder party and found myself talking to a well dressed lady, nice hair with a scarf on and looking great. She was obviously dressed for the event Tourism SA had put on promoting their fine food and wine. Both of us had wine in one hand and delicious nibblies in the other. I couldn’t help but notice the rain getting harder and harder and all of a sudden mid sentence, the tent roof opened and a mother load of water came splashing down hard on both of us. Now when I say both of us it covered half of me but my new found friend was drenched from head to toe. The whole place went quiet with shock and she pointed at me and said ‘it’s your fault’ but then we both started laughing. Everyone at this point was either in shock and silence or in fits of laughter as the ever present and gracious host of the Salt House, Olivia helped dry her and wipe some of the makeup off that was running down her face. I spent the next couple of hours a bit wet but it served as a reminder to not stand under the edge of a tent, a lesson I thought I learned years ago! I haven’t stop laughing about that one.
The final night and closing event was the icing on the cake, the cream on the pie, the…….well you know what I mean. Restaurant Australia was the theme and the food was to die for. That’s after you walked the red carpet lined with Virgin Australia flight attendants, grabbed a beverage and food on arrival and stepped inside a venue set up to impress, inspire and confirm for the top travel companies that Australia is the amazing holiday destination we all love. They played the Restaurant Australia video and everyone enjoyed it while sampling some of the best food and beverages from around the country.
At the far end of the Cruise Liner Terminal Virgin Australia had set up a neon light representation of their flight routes around Australia and I’d have to say it was pretty impressive once I figured out what it was! On the last night and Monday night (you know if you were there) ended as late nights in Cairns often do dancing on tables in the Woolshed which is one of Australia’s most well known backpacker bars. Fortunately we managed to stay on the tables without falling off and danced until the wee hours to celebrate one of the best ATE’s I have attended.
I would also like to thank the baristas and Virgin staff for keeping the coffee flowing and keeping us entertained. Thanks to the lady at the top of the stairs telling me each time I got to those stairs to ‘watch my step’, I feel like it made a big difference and I hope the fact that I made you watch my ‘dance’ steps every time I came past didn’t get too annoying!
Considering we were so busy during the days……and during the nights we didn’t get a lot of photos so we’d love to add more photos to this blog of the floor, venue, people, events and destination so if you’re happy to share them please send them to phil@tourstogo.com or hash tag them #ATE14TTG
Thanks to you all and hopefully we’ll see you in Melbourne for another amazing Australian Tourism Exchange, ATE15!
People who definitely deserve our thanks
Interestingly the majority of the people who deserve thanks for making ATE14 in Cairns such a success were actually the ones who took part in a small but powerful gesture as the buyers walked out of ATE on the last day. Members from TQ, TTNQ, Ross Steele and his convention centre staff, local Cairns tourism operators and businesses and a lot of the volunteers from the event were clapping and thanking the buyers as they left the convention centre and as I mentioned earlier the little things really had the biggest impact at this year’s ATE. Thank you all for your effort. Thanks goes out to Tourism Australia, Virgin Australia, Etihad Airways and all the amazing people representing tourism businesses around the world and Australia that attended. We all love this industry and ATE14 in Cairns showed me again what an amazing industry it is to be a part of.I would also like to thank the baristas and Virgin staff for keeping the coffee flowing and keeping us entertained. Thanks to the lady at the top of the stairs telling me each time I got to those stairs to ‘watch my step’, I feel like it made a big difference and I hope the fact that I made you watch my ‘dance’ steps every time I came past didn’t get too annoying!
Considering we were so busy during the days……and during the nights we didn’t get a lot of photos so we’d love to add more photos to this blog of the floor, venue, people, events and destination so if you’re happy to share them please send them to phil@tourstogo.com or hash tag them #ATE14TTG
Thanks to you all and hopefully we’ll see you in Melbourne for another amazing Australian Tourism Exchange, ATE15!
*Written by Tours To Go
Phone:07 4041 3244International:+61 7 4041 3244
Email:admin@tourstogo.com
Address:1/190 Brown St, Cairns, 4870
website: http://www.tourstogo.com.au
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