Tourism Central Australia ‘cautiously optimistic’ for 2025 season as new campaign gears up
Red Centre tourism operators are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the upcoming seasons, while a sleek new campaign gears up for launch.
Alice Springs
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Ahead of a new campaign being launched for the Red Centre, the region’s peak tourism body says sales have doubled – but some operators remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the upcoming season.
At Tourism Central Australia’s (TCA) first general meeting for 2025, chief executive Danial Rochford said sales in the summer period have “been above what out expectations have been”.
Mr Rochford said between December to February the TCA has seen sales totalling $641,000 – more than double the $309,000 the organisation recorded the year prior.
“What it does do is give us a little bit of a window into the upcoming tourism season, and certainly I hear from some of you (the members) that bookings are looking relatively good,” he said.
While the organisation was looking ahead to the 2025 “through the lens of positivity” there were some members staying “cautiously optimistic,” Mr Rochford said.
Members were gathered in the Alice Springs convention centre, were they listened to Mr Rochford and other speakers.
TCA treasurer Jodie Summers said the organisation’s revenue increase had come from “strong bookings driven primarily by the Territory discount program”.
She said commissions were up 71 per cent, which equated to a “promising” upcoming season.
“We’ve had some downturn in retail sales in the visitor information centre and the mine tours in Tennant Creek. Due to less people physically in our centres, retail sales are down by nine per cent,” she said.
TCA has also launched a new campaign “stories from the heart” with in intent to get people to share what they love about the Red Centre.
The campaign is a collaboration between Tourism NT and TCA.
The meeting heard how industry partners such as Qantas, Expedia, and Webjet are on board for the campaign – with works underway to secure discounts through them.
A number of big name ambassadors were also teased at the meeting, with TV personalities, big name influencers, and maybe even a few big name AFL stars potentially sharing their “stories from the heart” in the future.
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