Qantas today announced new inbound tourism data for regional Australia as it marks the first year of the Qantas and Emirates partnership – with Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory among the winners.

Qantas International Chief Executive Officer Simon Hickey said the joint network has delivered on its promise to boost inbound tourism for Australia and its regional cities in particular, with Emirates customers booking on Qantas Domestic services as part of their journey.

“The partnership with Emirates has opened up 32 destinations on the Qantas domestic network, making travel to and within Australia easy for visitors and providing tourism operators with new opportunities from international tourists visiting the country,” said Mr Hickey.

“Outside our city gateways, international customers have purchased an average of five times more fares to the top regional centres including Cairns and Hobart than under our previous partnership arrangements for Europe, and we have seen a significant increase in bookings for new codeshare destinations including Alice Springs, Darwin and Townsville.

“Through our $72 million joint marketing investment in Australian tourism with the state and territory tourism organisations, we’re promoting Australia to a bigger audience than ever before. The majority of Qantas and Emirates customers travelling to Australia are from the United Kingdom, Middle East, Singapore, Germany and Italy.”

Australian travellers are also reaping the benefits of the partnership, with more than one million passengers having travelled through Dubai and onwards to more than 65 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe in the last twelve months.

Mr Hickey said Qantas customers in Australia had given the partnership a clear stamp of approval in its first year.

“The reaction to the partnership has been extremely positive to the point where the highest customer satisfaction ratings across our international network are on flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Dubai.” said Mr Hickey.

“Since Qantas began flying through Dubai, there has been increased interest from Australians in Dubai as a holiday destination with travellers now staying on average between two and seven nights.”

Together, Qantas and Emirates offer 98 flights per week from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth to Dubai, and onwards to more than 65 destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, the UK and Europe.

The Qantas-Emirates partnership offers world class travel experiences, an extensive joint network with shorter travel times to key destinations and exclusive frequent flyer benefits.

Passenger traffic growth at Dubai International Airport reached 6.5 million for the seventh consecutive month during February, according to the latest traffic statistics issued by operator Dubai Airports. With only a little more than 800,000 passengers separating Dubai International from London Heathrow during 2013, the airport is on track to take over the top spot by 2015.