Tourism Australia Updates the Aussie Specialist Program

Image: A kangaroo jumps in front of a sunrise over the beach in tropical north Queensland (photo via Greg Sullavan / iStock/ Getty Images Plus)
Image: A kangaroo jumps in front of a sunrise over the beach in tropical north Queensland (photo via Greg Sullavan / iStock/ Getty Images Plus)
Janeen Christoff
by Janeen Christoff
Last updated: 5:40 PM ET, Fri October 1, 2021

As Australia moves closer to opening its borders to visitors once again, Tourism Australia has given its Aussie Specialist program a new look and feel with more functionality for users.

The Aussie Specialist Program, which operates in conjunction with Australia's State and Territory Tourism Organisations, has greater personalization, faster qualifying times and shorter, more interactive training modules.

The investment in updating the program comes at the right time, according to Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison, who noted that frontline travel sellers "turned to the Aussie Specialist Program over the past 18 months to learn and position themselves as champions for Australian travel once borders reopen."

"Australia remains one of the most desirable travel destinations in the world and the Aussie Specialist Program helps to ensure we will be in the best possible position to convert travel demand into bookings as soon as borders reopen," Harrison said. "We now have more than 26,000 qualified Aussie Specialists worldwide and hope the new program will allow more agents to complete their learning so they too can best sell Australian tourism experiences."

In conjunction with the launch of the new and improved specialist program, Tourism Australia is inviting its Aussie Specialists to the inaugural Australia Global Summit, a virtual event that will take place on November 16, 2021. All Aussie Specialists and distribution partners are invited to take part in the event, free of charge.

The summit will be a three-hour online event that includes inspiring keynote speakers, energizing storytelling chapters, informative education sessions and on-demand content. It will be available in nine languages and is jointly promoted by Tourism Australia and all eight state and territory tourism partners.

In addition to the updated specialist program, Tourism Australia launched Australia 365, a global, always-on virtual trade hub that registered buyers can use to connect with more than 2,0000 suppliers. The new platform provides the global distribution partners and Aussie Specialists the opportunity to share, train, update and connect throughout the year.


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