Qantas will produce a Chinese-language version of its in-flight magazine Spirit of Australia aimed at the world's largest tourist market.
The bi-annual magazine will focus on beauty, shopping, local food and wine, and will be available on planes and in airport lounges and duty free stores in Australia and New Zealand. It will be printed in Australia by Hannanprint, which prints the English language version of the magazine.
"This is a great opportunity to put our cities and regional destinations, our amazing restaurants, chefs and winemakers, and our talented local designers in front of a massive and highly engaged audience of Chinese travellers," says Olivia Wirth, Qantas marketing and corporate affairs group executive. “It’s first and foremost a great read, but we also hope it inspires return visits, gets family members and friends of our passengers interested and starts discussions through social media."
The magazine will be published in October and January to coincide with the busiest travelling months for Chinese tourists, says Qantas Magazine editor in chief Kirsten Galliott, who notes that luxury travel is a new niche for the Australian market with big potential for growth.
About 1.1 million Chinese tourists visited Australia last financial year and China is expected to overtake New Zealand as Australia's biggest tourism market by 2018.
Chinese tourists spend more than $8 billion a year within Australia, according to Tourism Australia.