Australian and New Zealand travel agents will find their perfect California match this month.

Visit California will play cupid during their Australian and New Zealand Sales and Media Mission in August, helping the travel industry to discover their ideal travel match in the Golden State.

For its fourth travel training events in as many years, Visit California will introduce a new sit-down dinner format and as part of the interactive activities, a portion of the evening events will adopt a unique “dating” theme. California destinations will be presented as potential “dates” so that agents can better understand what each destination has to offer and help them to fit that with the needs of their travel clients.

“Visit California has been staging roadshows for four years running so we wanted to mix things up a little,” says Tristan Freedman, Account Director for Visit California, Australia and New Zealand. “Part of our travel agent training nights will be presented as a dating talk show, it’s quirky and fun, but that’s what agents expect from us. That’s part of the appeal of why they keep coming back year after year.”

The 2012 travel training events reached their capacity registrations in all cities within a day of registration sites going live.

“We’ve never had demand as high as this, and I think it is a sign of the appeal of the United States and California as a key destination for Australian and New Zealand travelers alike,” said Freedman.

“Our events really have become such an invaluable educational experience for travel agents. They’re also crucial to obtaining the first-hand knowledge and advice from Californian suppliers. This year we have a record number of participants, with 18 representatives from the tourism industry taking part in our events.”

The California Sales and Media Mission will visit Melbourne tonight, Sydney on Wednesday 22 August and Auckland on Monday 27 August. Special B2B sessions will also be held in Sydney and Auckland.

Visiting representatives from the California travel industry will include:

• Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau
• Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau
• CityPASS
• Disneyland Resort
• Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau
• High Sierra Visitors Council
• Huntington Beach, Surf City USA
• Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa
• Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board
• Premium Outlets
• San Diego CVB
• San Francisco Travel
• Santa Barbara CVB and Film Commission
• Santa Monica CVB
• SeaWorld California
• Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association
• Universal Studios Hollywood