1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,880
Speaker 1: It is just after nine point thirty, and I'd tell

2
00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,200
Speaker 1: you what, if you were quick yesterday, you may have

3
00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,200
Speaker 1: seen those incredibly well priced flights from other capital cities

4
00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,039
Speaker 1: into Darwin. They were available, as understand it on Webjet.

5
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,520
Speaker 1: By the time I'd seen them last night, it seemed

6
00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: as though all the cheap ones had already been sold.

7
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,480
Speaker 1: But the deals are all part of a major campaign

8
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,400
Speaker 1: which Tourism and T has got underway in an effort

9
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,520
Speaker 1: to get visitors to the Northern Territory over the summer period.

10
00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is Tony Quimby, who

11
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,440
Speaker 1: is the executive director of Marketing with Tourism and t

12
00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,160
Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Tony, Morning Katy. Now Tony, those

13
00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,559
Speaker 1: flights yesterday seemed to go off. Did they all go

14
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:42,360
Speaker 1: pretty quickly?

15
00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,000
Speaker 2: Yeah? They went quicker than a hot bread. They Yeah.

16
00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:49,839
Speaker 2: We had a similar sale with the Red Center a

17
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,279
Speaker 2: few weeks prior to the top end sale with Webjet,

18
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 2: and it took three days for the Red Cent to

19
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 2: sell out. The top ends sold out in less than

20
00:00:58,560 --> 00:00:59,240
Speaker 2: a day and a half.

21
00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,520
Speaker 1: It seemed like they went so fast. I went on

22
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:04,720
Speaker 1: there last night and I thought, oh, I just have

23
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,200
Speaker 1: a bit of a look, see if I can send

24
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,559
Speaker 1: some deals to my family into state. They were all

25
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,040
Speaker 1: they were all back to normal prices, I think, Tony.

26
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately the sale fair is only last for

27
00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,080
Speaker 2: a short time, so the demand is just so great

28
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:19,440
Speaker 2: that they go so quick.

29
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,520
Speaker 1: Yeah. Do we have any idea on the numbers, like

30
00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,040
Speaker 1: the number of flights that we had those discounted rates

31
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,520
Speaker 1: on and how many people may have purchased them.

32
00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,479
Speaker 2: Well, Webjects has an allocation of sale fairs across all

33
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,479
Speaker 2: the different airlines on this campaign it was fifteen hundred.

34
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,160
Speaker 2: So we know that the trawl days will be from

35
00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,640
Speaker 2: now until March because this is a summer focused campaign.

36
00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,760
Speaker 2: Do we know at least fifteen hundred people have bought

37
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 2: those sale fairs into the territory top end basically for

38
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:52,760
Speaker 2: some period.

39
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,480
Speaker 1: That is wonderful and we'll hopefully provide a real boost.

40
00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,720
Speaker 1: I mean, we've had a very busy year, it seems

41
00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,600
Speaker 1: when it comes to tourism, But how important is it

42
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 1: really to keep tourists coming over that summer period.

43
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,239
Speaker 2: It's vital. Businesses rely on the peak season to make

44
00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,760
Speaker 2: sure they make as much money as they can to

45
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,240
Speaker 2: supply through the summer. When the visitation drops this year

46
00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,440
Speaker 2: is especially important to make sure we've got Australians traveling

47
00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,720
Speaker 2: in the summer because our international visitations still haven't returned

48
00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,720
Speaker 2: back to the normal levels. So to keep those businesses

49
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,520
Speaker 2: in operation, we need Australians traveling to the territory during

50
00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,679
Speaker 2: the summer this year.

51
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,000
Speaker 1: And it is part of a broader plan. And well,

52
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 1: certainly the flights were part of a broader plan. What

53
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,280
Speaker 1: else have you got organized when it comes to trying

54
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,800
Speaker 1: to lure people here over that period, Well, we've.

55
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:51,079
Speaker 2: Got since about halfway through July, we started a national

56
00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,679
Speaker 2: campaign really raising awareness of the territory and why this

57
00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:59,000
Speaker 2: summer is a good time to travel. That media can

58
00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,320
Speaker 2: continue through into October. But underpinning that, we have what

59
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,000
Speaker 2: we call our cooperative campaigns with our travel partners, and

60
00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,840
Speaker 2: that range is from the airlines through to online retailers

61
00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,359
Speaker 2: and then the high street retailers as well. So we've

62
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,880
Speaker 2: got this in this instance it's Webjet, but we've got

63
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,919
Speaker 2: higher car companies breadths for example, we've got Holidays Australia

64
00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,239
Speaker 2: through the nt now raining they've got deals there. We've

65
00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,720
Speaker 2: also got other airlines coming on board with sales throughout

66
00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,120
Speaker 2: the summer as well, so it's a really combined, integrated

67
00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 2: campaign focused on the summer months.

68
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,320
Speaker 1: And Tony, have things been any more difficult for you

69
00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,440
Speaker 1: in terms of marketing the Northern Territory in recent months

70
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,800
Speaker 1: based on the fact that there has sort of been

71
00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,560
Speaker 1: some difficulties. I guess you might say with some flights.

72
00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,640
Speaker 1: We know that the airlines in terms of coming back

73
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 1: on board or really getting back to full operation following COVID,

74
00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,320
Speaker 1: there seems to have been more delays and more cancelations.

75
00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,040
Speaker 1: Has that made it more difficult for tourism and tea

76
00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:04,600
Speaker 1: in any way?

77
00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, We've got two sides of tourigament, and you've got

78
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 2: the supply side, so making sure that enough people within

79
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,080
Speaker 2: the industry supplying visitors when they get here, and that

80
00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,359
Speaker 2: includes making sure airlines can come into the territory and

81
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,839
Speaker 2: we've got enough airlines and enough larger aircraft to service that.

82
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,960
Speaker 2: Then you've got the demand side, which is the marketing.

83
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,640
Speaker 2: Now we're marketing quite successfully nationally, but unless we get

84
00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,760
Speaker 2: enough access in terms of enough airlines flying in enough

85
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,360
Speaker 2: size aircraft to service that demand, that's when you get

86
00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,640
Speaker 2: the higher prices and then you get the you know, unfortunately,

87
00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,560
Speaker 2: the backlog of people trying to get here either not

88
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,200
Speaker 2: being able to afford it or not being able to

89
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,800
Speaker 2: actually get into a hotel or an airset.

90
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,960
Speaker 1: And how from your perspective, you know, how are things

91
00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 1: going in the territory right now? I know that there's

92
00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,520
Speaker 1: been a bit of difficulty into of the job shortages

93
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,760
Speaker 1: that we're experiencing right around the nation are realistically, but

94
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,440
Speaker 1: how are things going now from your perspective, Well.

95
00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,240
Speaker 2: Obviously the workforce limits the amount of visitors we can

96
00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 2: cater for over this peak period. In terms of demand,

97
00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,640
Speaker 2: we've had great demand for the territory. What we're tracking

98
00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,320
Speaker 2: is there's still great demand moving forward even with higher

99
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,560
Speaker 2: prices that we've seen. So it's tracking really well from

100
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,320
Speaker 2: a demand perspective. We've just got to keep that going

101
00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,559
Speaker 2: now into the summer and so it pushes into next

102
00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:34,480
Speaker 2: year as far as possible.

103
00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Tony, when it comes to the top end,

104
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,040
Speaker 1: I know that there's so many places for us all

105
00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,040
Speaker 1: to love, but are there any sort of particular hotspots

106
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,720
Speaker 1: that people really enjoy getting to when they do travel

107
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:46,479
Speaker 1: from into state.

108
00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 2: Well, what we have seen is a particular interest in

109
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,920
Speaker 2: getting more regional, so you know, Kakidu, for instance, has

110
00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,960
Speaker 2: gone off off the radar in terms of visitation even

111
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,640
Speaker 2: greater than to and nineteen before the pandemic hit. The

112
00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:08,280
Speaker 2: usual hot spots are very popular, but because drive has

113
00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,800
Speaker 2: had such a massive growth since the pandemic, you're seeing

114
00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:16,679
Speaker 2: places like Catherine Tennant Creek all the way up the track.

115
00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,239
Speaker 2: People are stopping because they're driving into territory or wanting

116
00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,000
Speaker 2: to get out to those regional areas well.

117
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 1: That is wonderful to hear. And I know that last

118
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:27,640
Speaker 1: time you and I spoke, some people were texting through

119
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 1: and saying, oh, Katie, do you reckon. We're going to

120
00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,600
Speaker 1: be able to get people to travel here in that

121
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,479
Speaker 1: summer period. It's very hot, and it is hot, but

122
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,440
Speaker 1: there's so many wonderful lightning storms and all different sorts

123
00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,039
Speaker 1: of things to experience. It are a little bit different

124
00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:40,960
Speaker 1: over that period.

125
00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you've got to look from the east and

126
00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,560
Speaker 2: south coast, they're having really cold, wet weather. Yes, it's

127
00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,440
Speaker 2: going to be a bit hotter in the territory obviously,

128
00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,599
Speaker 2: but you know it's something that they're prepared for, something

129
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,640
Speaker 2: that they actually want to experience to get away from

130
00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,440
Speaker 2: the dreary weather down south. I don't think it's as

131
00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,839
Speaker 2: bad as what we make out it to be because

132
00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,080
Speaker 2: of you know, we used to the build up and

133
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,760
Speaker 2: the really you know, the lead into the summer month.

134
00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,720
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Tony Quanby, it's always good to catch up

135
00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,680
Speaker 1: with you. I appreciate your time this morning. And it

136
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,240
Speaker 1: sounds as though those flights yesterday, well they were hot,

137
00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,640
Speaker 1: they were too hot for some of us, not able

138
00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,120
Speaker 1: to get our hands on any for our family Interstate.

139
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,160
Speaker 2: Well, all I can say is just to keep your

140
00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,240
Speaker 2: eyes peeled for the next sale. We will work with

141
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,080
Speaker 2: the airline to try and get as many sales as

142
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:34,080
Speaker 2: the market as possible.

143
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,360
Speaker 1: Good stuff, Good on You're Tony, lovely to speak to

144
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,920
Speaker 1: you this morning, you too, thank you. That is Tony

145
00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,040
Speaker 1: Quanby there, who is indeed the executive director of marketing

146
00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,680
Speaker 1: with Tourism NTE. And that number if you'd like to

147
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,280
Speaker 1: message through this morning zero for double nine seven, double

148
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,480
Speaker 1: one three six zero. Very keen to hear whether you

149
00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,760
Speaker 1: were one of the fifteen hundred people who managed to

150
00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,800
Speaker 1: get their hands on any of those flights. Maybe you've

151
00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 1: got family coming to visit from Interstate and some of

152
00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,400
Speaker 1: them were really well priced, like I'm talking twenty dollars

153
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,080
Speaker 1: from Adelaide nineteen in fact. So if you want to

154
00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 1: send me a message, zero four double nine seven, double

155
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,560
Speaker 1: one three six zero up. Next though, the Lord Mayor

156
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,040
Speaker 1: of Darwin convat Scalas