VisitCanberra was joined by 12 tourism industry partners in Sydney from 15–19 May to take part in the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), the biggest annual travel tradeshow held in the Southern Hemisphere. This was the largest ACT contingent ever to attend ATE.
Over the course of ATE17, Canberra operators held over 1,200 meetings with major domestic and international travel buyers across four days of back to back appointments. Canberra operators all sought to promote their products and Canberra as a destination to their audiences.
This year VisitCanberra’s presence was complimented by the first-ever Canberra STO cafe which created a networking area for over 2,500 buyers and sellers to gather and make genuine business connections. The cafe prepared over 1,800 cups of perfectly crafted coffee thanks to ONA Coffee and their expert baristas Gus and Isaac, and gave out 420 hand-crafted Robyn Rowe Chocolates and a selection of Icon Cookies from the Roseberry Street Bakehouse.
ATE attendees were treated to a selection of the finest Canberra region produce during the ever popular Happy Hour, held after appointments on Wednesday 17 May. Buyers flocked to the cafe to watch a show of live oyster shucking courtesy of Captain Sponge’s Magical Oyster tours and enjoy a delectable charcuterie selection from Pialligo Estate before trying their hand at matching food with a glass of Canberra district wine or a bottle of Capital Brewing Co.’s Coast Ale.
If you are interested in finding out more about ATE and how you can get involved in 2018, please contact Natalie Dean, Business Development Manager, VisitCanberra 02 6205 0506.