Congratulations to the graduates of the 2021 Connecting With Asia Program

2 September 2021: Eleven local businesses along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road graduated in August from the inaugural Connecting With Asia program.

Delivered by Asialink Business in partnership with the Warrnambool City Council, the program equips tourism operators for the future of post-Covid travel, by developing Asia capabilities, deep market insight, nuanced understanding of the visitor experience, and new connections.

After reaching a high of 9.3 million international visitors in 2018-19, international tourism has been on hold since the onset of the pandemic, which severely disrupted the $45 billion industry  Prior to COVID-19, countries in Asia accounted for 7 out of 10 of Australia’s top tourism markets.

As part of a four month journey, Connecting With Asia participants explored how to inspire and influence tourists from China, India and Southeast Asia, as well as Asian-Australian visitors. 

Building on the widely successful and nationally recognised China Host Program, the training focused on assisting participants to undertake a personalised analysis of their own businesses, with advice on how to customise tourism offerings for Asian visitors, and use social media and other digital platforms to better connect with travellers and enhance their visitor experience.

Connecting With Asia is supporting regional tourism operators to get ready and trained for the future. To read more about the program visit here.