SCOUT KEY, Florida Keysrime viewing of southern constellations, comets and stars is to draw hundreds of amateur and professional astronomers to the Lower Florida Keys Monday through Sunday, Feb. 4-10. 

Winter Star Party
The 29th annual Winter Star Party is to take place at Camp Wesumkee, a Girl Scout camp at mile marker 34.5 off U.S. Highway 1 on Scout Key, formerly known as West Summerland Key. The Lower Keys’ southern location and relative absence of artificial lighting at night create optimal viewing conditions. 

Professional Astronomers 
As many as 600 amateur and professional astronomers from around the world are to participate, attracted by the chance to view the Southern Cross and other southern constellations. The Florida Keys are among the only places in the contiguous United States where those celestial objects can be seen. 

Tim Khan - Astro-Photographer
In addition to nightly stargazing opportunities, Winter Star Party participants can attend lectures and presentations by nationally recognized astronomers and guest speakers. They include astro-photographer and event director Tim Khan and star party founder Tippy D’Auria, a widely renowned planetary astronomer and astro-photographer.

 Astronomy Photo Contest
Participants also can shop for astronomy equipment from on-site vendors, display their skills in photo contests, take lessons to enhance their mirror-grinding prowess, compete for raffle prizes and exchange information with fellow astronomy aficionados. Special “Kids Kamp” activities are arranged for young astronomers.

Miami’s Southern Cross Astronomical Society
The gathering is hosted by Miami’s Southern Cross Astronomical Society. Founded in 1922, the SCAS is one of the oldest amateur astronomical societies in the Western Hemisphere. 

Camp Wesumkee
Viewing of the night skies is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Feb. 4-9, and continue until dawn. Event participants must depart Camp Wesumkee by 10 a.m. Sunday. 

The Winter Star Party is open to the public as well as to SCAS members, though advance registration is required for the event. Tickets are not available for sale at the event. 

G’day USA 2013
Tourism Australia is building on the momentum of recent growth in US visitor numbers to Australia by showcasing Australia’s destination appeal at this year’s 10th anniversary of G’day USA 2013.

US visitor numbers to Australia grew steadily over 2012, with a more than four percent increase in the calendar year to October and eight percent growth in the month of October compared with the same month the prior year.  Further, International Visitor Survey data showed US visitor expenditure grew 12 percent in the year to September to over $2.3 billion.

Tourism Australia’s Vice President, the Americas, Jane Whitehead, said:  “These numbers are encouraging and show that more Americans are recognizing Australia’s many attractions as a vacation destination.

“We are seeing particularly high growth in the target segment that is the primary focus of our marketing efforts, the 45 years + affluent traveler.  This segment grew 12 percent in visitor numbers, 23 percent in expenditure and spent 26 percent more nights exploring Australia’s many attractions beyond the gateway cities,” Mrs. Whitehead said. 

“Australia is also being increasingly recognized as a premier destination for business events.  In the year to October, convention and conference visitors from the US to Australia rose 30 percent.”

The improvement in arrivals comes as Tourism Australia has undertaken a major investment in the North American market with the latest evolution of its ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ campaign across broadcast, print, digital and social channels.

Mrs. Whitehead said ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ is resonating with Americans, “With this campaign, we are leading with some of the best experiences we have to offer and showcasing why, whatever you may be looking for from a vacation, you will find it in Australia.”

"This week we will also kick off a four month campaign with Qantas that will build on the momentum we are seeing," said Mrs. Whitehead.

Ellen Degeneres Show
Australia is also attracting many high profile Americans.  On The Ellen Degeneres Show this week, Ellen announced that she will be heading to Melbourne and Sydney.  With Swisse Wellness ambassador Nicole Kidman, she told 400 of her excited audience members that they would also be offered trips to Australia.  The trips are a joint initiative of Swisse and Qantas Airways.

“Ellen has a strong following in the US and will do a fantastic job in shining the media spotlight on the country, just as Oprah did in 2010,” Mrs. Whitehead said.

“As with Oprah, she’ll be sending a big audience to Australia and the Australian tourism industry will reap the benefits as those people explore the delights of Sydney and Melbourne.”

Mrs. Whitehead said the initiative was a huge win for Australia as recent consumer research undertaken by BDA Marketing Planning for Tourism Australia showed that once Americans visited Australia, they rated it top amongst all destinations on many factors that influence their choice of vacation destination.

“While Australia is generally recognized by Americans as having outstanding natural beauty, great beaches, friendly people and unique wildlife, the research showed that Americans that visited Australia were surprised to discover the exceptional standard of the country’s food and wine and rich native heritage and activities and in fact found it led the world in these areas.”

As part of its strategy to support the US travel industry in marketing and selling Australia effectively, Tourism Australia this week ran an inaugural two-day Tourism Summit as part of the G’Day USA program and in partnership with Destination NSW, the South Australia Tourism Commission, Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Victoria and Qantas Airways.

The event was attended by around 115 travel industry leaders who came to hear insights from dozens of experts from leading travel and related brands including American Express, Google, Facebook, Travel Channel and Afar on a range of topics from consumer behavior to infrastructure changes and digital and social media strategy.

Source: Tourism Australia.