Sports Travel and Hospitality Group UK (STH UK), a provider of sports hospitality and premium spectator experiences, has been appointed as an official travel agent of the Australian Open.
STH UK will exclusively operate AO Travel packages for fans based in the UK wanting to travel to Australia for the 2023 edition of the tennis tournament.
AO Travel will provide ticket-inclusive travel experiences for each round of next year’s Australian Open. Curated packages can be tailored based on tennis sessions, ticket types, hotel accommodation and exclusive experience add-ons.
STH UK will operate as AO Travel and all packages will include guaranteed Australian Open match tickets, combined with accommodation close to Melbourne Park (where the tournament takes place), transport from the UK, on-ground concierge services and official merchandise.
AO Travel packages are available from today (Thursday).
Emily Tuffin, STH UK general manager, said: “We are thrilled to bring AO Travel packages to tennis fans in the UK. The Australian Open is one of the most iconic sporting events in the calendar and the passion for tennis in the UK remains incredibly high with players gaining incredible support wherever they play in the world.
“Australia remains one of the most popular travel destinations from the UK and with the travel restrictions of the last couple of years now lifted we are expecting incredibly high-demand for these exclusive packages.”
STH UK is the UK arm of the STH Group, which also has operations in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. AO Travel was established last year as a partnership between Tennis Australia and STH Australia.
The STH Group was founded in 2014 as a joint venture between French food services and facilities management giant Sodexo and the Mike Burton Group, a specialist sports travel and hospitality provider.
Kelsi Fryer, manager of global travel and tourism partnerships at Tennis Australia, added: “We are excited to bring AO Travel to fans around the world in 2023 after a successful launch with the Australian Open Travel programme in 2022.
“We look forward to welcoming fans from the UK again at the Australian Open and are sure that everyone travelling with STH UK will enjoy a truly spectacular AO experience.”
Image: Tourism Victoria from Australia/CC BY 2.0/Edited for size