Tourism Australia has today announced Virgin Australia as the platinum airline partner of the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) 2014, Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event.

This is the first time Virgin Australia has sponsored this global event, which will see it provide return flights for international buyer delegates from North America and New Zealand, as well as domestic flights to Cairns for all international and domestic buyer delegates.

ATE 2014 will see around 700 ‘buyer’ delegates from over 40 countries and approximately 1,200 Australian ‘seller’ delegates converge in Cairns, Queensland from 11 – 15 May 2014, the first time the event will be held in a regional destination in its 35 year history.

The announcement is the latest joint tourism initiative between the two parties, who committed to growing Australia’s inbound tourism market when they signed an extended Memorandum of Understand (MoU) in December 2013 doubling the value of their existing marketing activities.

The signing of the agreement also follows Virgin Australia’s recent sponsorship of Tourism Australia’s successful Dreamtime 2013 business events activity in December 2013.

Tourism Australia Executive General Manager International, Frances-Anne Keeler, said Virgin Australia’s strong sponsorship proposal and deepening partnership with Tourism Australia made the airline an excellent partner for ATE 2014.

“ATE is Australia’s premier tourism event and a great vehicle for all partners involved to help promote Australia’s world class tourism products and experiences to the world.

“Virgin Australia showed with Dreamtime their willingness to go above and beyond to create memorable experiences for delegates, so we are very excited to have them on board again for the Australian Tourism Exchange,” Ms Keeler said.

Virgin Australia Chief Commercial Officer, Judith Crompton said: “Virgin Australia is passionate about showcasing Australia to the world so we are delighted to become the new platinum airline sponsor of the Australian Tourism Exchange.

“We recognise the significance of this global event in attracting inbound tourism and generating economic benefits by providing a unique opportunity to meet with buyers from around the world.

“Following the success of Dreamtime last year, we look forward to working with Tourism Australian on another world-class event and welcoming the delegates on board our flights during May”.