Etihad in Sydney Opera House sponsor deal

Etihad is hoping its Sydney Opera House sponsorship will help it ramp up flights to Australia.

Etihad Australia general manager Sarah Built, left, and Sydney Opera House chief executive Louise Herron yesterday. Picture: John Feder

Etihad has strengthened its most lucrative international partnership, forging closer ties with Sydney Opera House as its major sponsor for the next five years.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has chosen to extend its relationship with Australia’s No 1 tourism destination as it ramps up its services to this country and chases a demographic prepared to invest in their lifestyle through travel and cultural experiences.

The airline believes its relationship with the arts venue will further cement its place as an international airline of choice and get more bums on plane seats, and will support the Opera House’s position as one of the world’s most respected and best connected institutions.

“The partnership with the Sydney Opera House, one of the world’s architectural wonders, is especially significant for Etihad Airways,” the airline’s general manager, Sarah Built, told The Australian. “It multiplies our ­efforts to promote travel to Australia and to elevate Sydney’s profile as one of the world’s great tourist and cultural destinations.”

The partners are tight-lipped on the value of the collaboration, which is intended to support the events program through flights for Opera House talent and executive staff, and a cash component ­believed to be millions of dollars a year. Yet they are effusive on the value of the ­relationship for each brand and its opportunity for export to the world.

Sydney is ranked as Etihad’s 10th most popular destination, supported by a roster of 14 flights a week connecting Sydney and Abu Dhabi. Overseas visitors now make up 85 per cent of tour patrons at the Opera House and one in 10 international visitors to Sydney takes a tour of the venue, a number that could be boosted through this partnership.

“This is the perfect time for us to explore how we can continue to work together,” Opera House chief executive Louise Herron said. The Opera House is entering the third year of a “decade of ­renewal” — a comprehensive works program during which it is opening more of the building to the public.

The NSW government has provided $202 million for the ­upgrade, in addition to $50m from the Opera House’s reserves. While funds supplied by Etihad would not be put towards the ­upgrade, they would be used to bolster the venue’s events program, in addition to initiatives and programs to better engage the public, Ms Herron said.

“Working closely with Etihad, we want to explore how they can best support a more integrated ­artistic and visitor experience as we prepare the Opera House for future generations,” she said.

It is a move that is happening more and more across the cultural industry, as brands step into the role of deep-pocketed patron in a bid to parlay the cachet attached to the country’s best cultural institutions into a better connection with customers and a sense of sophistication ­beyond the brand experience. Etihad will sit alongside the Opera House’s other major partners, including Google and MasterCard, while brands such as Virgin Australia have emerged as headline sponsors for the Biennale of Sydney, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Queensland Ballet and a swag of other cultural, sports and philanthropic institutions.