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International marketing of two of Australia's biggest export sectors - wine and tourism - is about to be bolstered by a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tourism Australia and Wine Australia.

The three year agreement will see the two Australian Government agencies partner to promote wine and tourism in key international markets such as China, the USA, UK, and Canada as well as Australia from 1st January 2013. Collectively, wine and tourism contribute around $140 billion annually in economic value.

As part of the MoU, Wine Australia and Tourism Australia will partner on a range of marketing activities such as advertising and consumer promotions, digital marketing, public relations, and special events.

Wine Australia's Chairman George Wahby said the obvious synergies between the wine and tourism sectors means a close alliance is vitally important.

Wahby explained "our partnership with Tourism Australia is a very exciting prospect for the wine industry as we move the promotion of wine firmly into the lifestyle sector through a combination of wine, food and tourism.

"Both wine and tourism are sectors of great significance for Australia in terms of exports, their economic contribution and jobs, particularly in regional economies.

"Our partnership is an important opportunity, not only for both the tourism and wine sectors but for Australia, with two government agencies working together to align funds and strategies to support non-mining, sustainable, regional development."

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the partnership comes off the back of new research which shows that Australia's high quality wine and food offerings are key selling points for international visitors.

McEvoy added "recent findings from our Consumer Demand Research in 11 key tourism markets indicate that Australia's food and wine are an important part of the visitor experience but are not necessarily something that visitors know a lot about before they arrive here.

"By partnering with Wine Australia there is a greater opportunity to highlight Australia's world-class wine experiences as a further motivating factor for people to travel to and through Australia.

"Regional areas can especially benefit from the tourism opportunities offered by Australia's wine experiences, especially when matched with our fine food offering."

Wine Australia's Chief Executive Andrew Cheesman said Wine Australia will work closely with Tourism Australia to generate greater awareness about the quality of Australian wine and our wine tourism experiences.

Cheesman added "we are currently developing a campaign together with Tourism Australia and our industry partners, to build a higher value premium perception of Australian wine and develop our food and wine offering to be more relevant to the decision making process for travel to and within Australia.

"Ultimately, our aim is to excite consumers about Australian wine, activate the trade and see more quality Australian wines on wine lists and retail shelves around the world.

"Our partnership with Tourism Australia will play a major role in bringing this campaign to life."

The announcement comes at a time when Australia has attracted a record six million international visitors in the past year, domestic travel has seen five consecutive months of growth, and Australian wine exports have increased at higher price points, with a four percent per litre increase in the average value.

The Australian wine industry is a $4.3 billion sector that provides an economic value to Australia of $43 billion and creates 52,000 jobs, many of which are based in 65 regional communities. It is the fourth biggest agricultural exporting sector. Just under 30 million glasses of Australian wine that have been produced by one of Australia's 2,400 wineries and 6,200 grape growers are consumed around the world every day.

Australian tourism generates $96 billion in spending annually, employing around one million Australians both directly and indirectly. Tourism's direct contribution to GDP was worth $34.6 billion in 2010-11, or 2.5% of GDP, making it Australia's largest services export sector.

Images: Vineyards of South Australia's Barossa Valley (top) and Western Australia's Swan Valley (below).

4th July 2012 - SOCIAL MEDIA SHAPING THE WAY AUSTRALIANS TRAVEL

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