by Mat Churchill

The Australian Tourism Exchange, the southern hemisphere's largest travel event which promotes Australian holiday destinations and experiences to the overseas travel industry, has wrapped up in Sydney.

The week-long event was attended by around 600 Australian tourism businesses, and just as many international delegates from major travel wholesalers looking for new opportunities for product promotion to their customers.

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree (TPDD) joined a handful of Far North Queensland tour companies at ATE in a bid to have our region in the forefront of "buyers" minds.

While at ATE, TPDD staff including executive officer Doug Ryan attended 80 appointments with delegates interested in the Port Douglas and Daintree area.

Some of these delegates were representing some of the biggest wholesalers in the world including FTI from Germany, and Expedia.

"For us it was very much people wanting to see us which was nice to see because it means there is a desire to meet up with our product and do business with us.

"It's pretty full on. There's a lot of the work that goes on behind the scenes, it's the follow up now that we're doing," Mr Ryan said.

"We've got things that we need to do for wholesalers where we might be sending imagery, we might be sending words, we might be putting together packages, we might be giving them new product."

China Southern was one of the companies present at ATE, and Mr Ryan said this was a positive sign for our region.

"At ATE China Southern had a massive stand there. That's a good indicator of their desire to move into the Australian market.

"Certainly China Southern has suggested that they will be flying into Cairns by the end of the year. That's what they're aiming at...that'd be great news for us.

"I think there are many products (in Port Douglas and Daintree) that are ready for the Chinese market now. The thing you've got to do is change the itinerary and the mindset for them (Chinese travellers). At the moment they go to Cairns they've got two days...what we've got to do is show that they can get a quality holiday in Port Douglas over the same period."

Mr Ryan said the priority of TPDD at ATE was to lift the profile of our region with wholesalers.

"For us the number one thing is to raise the visibility of Port Douglas and the Daintree in all the brochures.

"We push for more content for our region...when we sit down with the wholesaler we'll say 'here's the stuff on Port Douglas, this is what's new, this is what's happening here'."