TOURISM GETS A SHARE OF QANTAS BILLION

QANTAS Airways (ASX:QAN) is ploughing back some of the mega-profits it has earned this past year into promoting its home market to the world through a three-year deal with Tourism Australia.

The flagship carrier has signed a $20 million joint-venture agreement with the peak tourism body to promote Australia through digital marketing initiatives aimed at luring more travellers from the US and Europe, as well as Asia.

Qantas is heading for a record annual profit of $1 billion for FY16 when it reports on August 24, after posting a $688 million bottom line in the first half.

The partnership with Tourism Australia brings Qantas' total spend on promoting Australia as a tourist destination to $80 million over three years.

The agreement follows news last month of a $28 million deal with NSW and a $9.78 million agreement with Tourism Events Queensland to promote their respective tourism markets globally.

Qantas has struck similar agreements with Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says the latest initiative aims to build on the tourism growth experienced across Australia over the past year.

The latest figures from Tourism Australia show that holiday travel surged 19 per cent in the year to the end of May with 3.8 million leisure visitors landing in Australia.

Total inbound travel, including conference and business travel, jumped 9.6 per cent to 7.78 million.

"Both Qantas and Tourism Australia want the same thing a strong tourism industry that makes Australia the first choice for people all over the world," says Joyce.

"Over the past two years Qantas has been increasing capacity to destinations around the world, building our alliances with the world's biggest airlines, and investing in our fleet, lounges and technology to make sure that visitors to Australia get the best possible travel experience.

"This new investment builds on the marketing we already do and our partnerships with state and territory governments to put Australia's best foot forward.

"Qantas has always been the biggest private sector supporter of Australian tourism and we will continue to focus on growing visitor numbers."

According to a Deloitte Access Economics report, Qantas facilitated $9.5 billion in tourism expenditure in Australia over 2014-15, or about 11 per cent of the total tourism spend.

The deal with Tourism Australia involves the sharing of data between the respective organisations to better target travellers considering a trip to Australia.

"The plans we have around data sharing are particularly exciting, allowing us to be more efficient and effective with our advertising but also enabling us to provide consumers with a much more relevant and personalised online experience," says Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan.

Pictured L-R: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan.