Tourism Australia is radically changing the way it presents the annual Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE). For the last several years, the ATE has been divided in two between the Western and Eastern markets. This year’s host organization, Destination New South Wales, has said that the third year’s ATE, due to be held in Sydney in April 2013, will be combined into a single, “shorter and sharper” global event.

The new format will reduce the existing seven-day trade event down to five days, with four days of appointments following a first day dedicated to delegate registration and other activities, including market briefings and media activities. Most other aspects of ATE 2013 will be similar to the current format, with final details to be confirmed in the coming months.

ATE 2013 will now run from April 26 to 30 with four full days of appointments culminating with a farewell function. Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said that a more compact format would also reduce costs and the length of time spent out of the office for many sellers, which had been identified by some operators as an issue at this year’s ATE event in Perth. The changes only apply to next year’s ATE event in Sydney.