Pacific Trade Invest Australia (PTI Australia) has appointed tourism trade specialist Ben Urquhart to a new role building booking pathways for Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru through Australian wholesale, retail and specialist channels.
The North Pacific will be more accessible than ever for Australian travel trade with PTI Australia naming Ben Urquhart as Senior North Pacific Tourism Advisor to make product from five nations packageable, priced and sellable for the first time.
The newly created role covers Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru, working directly with individual operators to enable their product to be sold through Australian wholesale, retail and specialist channels and promoted directly to travellers through a new North Pacific Tourism Packaging & Market Access Program.
Urquhart brings 14 years’ experience in destination marketing and brand strategy to PTI Australia, working across the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, including a stint as Marketing Director with Linkd Tourism.
He has previously assisted the Vanuatu Tourism Office in the Australian market as a Digital & Social Media Marketing Consultant and most recently delivered Austrade-funded programs for Tourism Central Australia as a Senior Marketing Specialist.
PTI Australia will be familiar to advisors for its annual support, alongside the Pacific Tourism Organisation, of the Treasures of the South Pacific roadshow.
The North Pacific offers some of the world’s best diving, fishing, surfing and Second World War wreck heritage, underpinned by cultural and natural appeal, but very little is currently packaged in a way the Australian trade can easily sell, which is the gap the new program sets out to close.
The North Pacific Tourism Packaging & Market Access Program will be delivered in partnership with the five national tourism offices, which lead destination marketing for their countries, alongside airlines and individual operators.
The operator-level work builds on PTI Australia’s longstanding Digital Tourism Program and the Treasures of the South Pacific program.
The project also aims to support air services in the region, including the emerging North Pacific Connector and the Palau-Paradise Express, with itineraries designed around existing routes and booking windows, also supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation (P4A) program.
Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation Executive Director James Ramsay said: “The P4A program is delighted to take another step in supporting tourism in the Pacific. Tourism is more than just an economic driver for the region; along with aviation, it brings members of the Pacific family closer together.”
“This initiative aims to boost tourist infrastructure and route viability, but it’s also about increasing opportunities for visitors to experience the rich cultural and natural heritage of the North Pacific.”
Australian wholesalers, retail groups, niche specialists or advisors interested in North Pacific product and PTI Australia can register their interest by emailing [email protected]
KARRYON UNPACKS: The North Pacific has been a genuine blank spot on the Australian trade map, until now. With five nations now creating trade-ready product and a dedicated tourism and marketing access program, advisors chasing a diving, fishing or wartime-heritage niche will have new destinations and products to create inspiring itineraries.
