Australia is jealous of New Zealand’s brand strategy and has yet to “crack the marketing code”, according to Tourism Industry Association New Zealand chief executive Tim Cossar.
Travel Today reports Cossar noted the green-eyed monster rearing its head on a recent trip to Darwin for the ATEC Conference.
And speaking at the 10th anniversary of the “100% Pure” campaign, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said it would be retained no matter which ad agency works on the account.
From a preferred destination to a most-avoided holiday spot – the downslide in the Indo-Australian tourism sector has come rather fast in the wake of the alleged racist attacks on Indians there. Indian tourists are cancelling plans to travel Down Under after watching the plight of Indian students there.
“We’ve just stopped selling Australia as a destination to our clients. We are instead asking them to go to Singapore etc,” says chairman of STIC travels, Subhash Goyal.
In March 2009 alone, as many as 30, 500 Indians had travelled to Austarlia. But that has changed now.
“We used to send at least 200 tourists to Australia in one month. It’s now come down to 40 or so. People are very worried about their safety and security. If it doesn’t stop, it will affect long term plans,” says another travel agent Inderpreet Singh Sodhi.
And while and even Tourism Minister Kumar Selja has cancelled her trip to the Oz land, the Indian Tourism Ministry is trying hard to play down the panic.
“We are saying go to Australia. These are isolated incidents. After all how did we project ourselves after 26/11? Things are fine,” says Tourism Secretary, Sujit Banerjee.
After all, Australians have been among the top five foreign tourists coming in to India.
I’m a pretty big movie buff, and a hardcore trekkie (nerd alert!) to boot. Last night, at the Sydney Opera House, J.J. Abrams and the cast of the new Star Trek movie had their world debut. The red carpet was rolled out, reporters were everywhere, but sadly, I was unable to attend.
Today, Hugh Jackman and the cast of the new X Men Origins movie are premering the movie at the famous Cockatoo Island, in the middle of the harbour – one of set locations for the movie.
So why Sydney? Is it because each film features a prominent Australian actor (Star Trek has Eric Bana, while Xmen has Hugh Jackman)? Is it because of the favourable exchange rate between the American and Australian dollar? Or is it because Sydney is truly a destination city, and people (actors and directors included) want to find an excuse to travel here?
Whatever it may be, Sydney seems to have been getting a lot of press lately. It’s a good thing too, the Australian economy needs all the help it can get, and showcasing two big movie world premieres in some of the most scenic parts of Sydney is likely to do some good. As for the movies, I’m excited to see both, but Star Trek – that’s the one I’ll be in line for on opening night. Yes, I’m a trekkie. And proud of it.
My long haitus on the site has been the result of a 2 week holiday back to the States. Back to visit family, to visit my 2 week old neice, and to further plan for my upcoming wedding in September. It was a good trip; no a great trip, but it was a whirlwind of a trip nonetheless. Two weeks of nonstop activities has me longing for a holiday from my holiday. It’s good to be home though. It’s very good to be home. While I miss my friends and family, and always will, I’ve realised that Australia fits me. It’s a really good fit actually. Fifteen minutes into my drive from the Los Angeles airport, I remembered why I was always frustrated on Southern California highways. Fifteen minutes into a shopping experience at a local mall in San Diego, I remembered why an economy of scale has its positives and negatives. Fifteen minutes after I left, I remembered that I’m 7,000 miles away from my closest friends and family.
Living overseas has always been an adventure, but after returning home for the first time since leaving 18 months ago, I’ve been able to refresh my thoughts and truly understand and remember why I was so excited and jazzed about moving to another country. More specifically, Australia.
The majority of my trip was spent in San Diego, however between my partner and I, we had trips to Los Angeles (Disneyland), San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Each of these locales, although all quite different from each other, had traits that very similiar; traits that I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed had I not been out of the country for the past 18 months.
Especially in Las Vegas, where excess is the norm, everything (and I mean everything/everyone) was in excess. Drinking, gambling, food ($9 Prime Ribs) were abundant. You couldn’t help but be surrounding by an uneccesarily large amount of everything, everywhere you went.
While life would be different in any country, and each have their positives and negatives, this past trip has shown me that my decision to live in Australia was a good one. It’s one that has more positives than negatives associated with it, and although it has put me 7000 miles away from a great number of people that are important to me, I know that the ones that are truly great friends and great family members we’ll see on a pretty regular basis. To be honest, between Skype, Vonage VOIP, and email, I talk to my parents on almost a daily basis, and my closest friends almost every other day. The world is getting smaller. Maybe that’s a good thing? Fifteen years ago, Australia would have felt a lot further away, more isolated.
Either way, I love it here.
Clean up after yourself. In fact, why not clean up after everyone else also? It’s a sad fact that people have no respect for the environment in which they live, but alas, some people just don’t care.
Today is Clean up Australia Day. In 1989 an ‘average Australian bloke’ had a simple idea to make a difference in his own backyard – Sydney Harbour. This simple idea has turned into an annual tradition in which ‘average Australians’ clean up their beautiful country. But why must it be just one day out of the year, in which we clean up around us? Wouldn’t it just be easier to keep it clean all year round? Probably, but unfortunately most people don’t think that way.
So what can you do?
Today, all across Australia, thousands of people are volunteering their time to clean up the land around them, but it doesn’t stop there. You can become involved in organisations that continue to do this year round and help keep this country beautiful. “Living Green” is a lifestyle that is becoming more and more common within Australia, as many Aussies realise that our carbon footprint continues to grow and continues to impact the world around us. Many have become actively involved in organisations, while others simply become more conscious of things like the amount of water we use, the amount of electricity we use, or what is thrown away or recycled. Even the smallest, environmental decision will help Australia become more environmentally friendly.
After all, it started with an ‘average Australian bloke’, Ian Kiernan. Once setting up the “Clean up Australia” campaign, he approached the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), with an idea to take his Clean Up concept global. Clean Up the World is an international campaign that encourages communities to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment through the Clean Up the World Membership program.
Who says one man can’t make a difference? So get out and do your part. Australia appreciates it.
I can’t necessarily vouch for what their flight service is like, but if it’s anything like their customer service, I’d think twice before booking. Here’s why:
V Australia was scheduled to start flying daily from Sydney to Los Angeles in January 2009. Due to Boeing strikes and other shortcomings, this had to be pushed back to late February. No worries, we were travelling back to the States in early March. So, with that said, we booked a return airfare from Sydney to Los Angeles on V Australia, hoping that everything we’ve heard about Virgin, V Australia’s parent company, was in fact true. Even with fares that were a bit more expensive than Qantas and United (I will never fly United again, after flying Air New Zealand and other competitors), we felt good about our decision, and looked forward to the smooth flight across the Pacific on their new Boeing 777 airplane.
Fast forward to this past week. We received a message on our answering machine from a representative asking us to call back and reference our booking number. That’s never a good sign. Finally, after sitting on hold for a good 1/2 hour, we’re told that our flight has been changed to a day earlier. Yep, not good. When asked why, the representative said they hadn’t received the number of planes needed from Boeing to make daily flights from Sydney to Los Angeles possible. Ok, so while this was out of their hands, the way they dealt with the problem was not. They knew this was going to be a problem, all the way back in December, yet failed to contact us until now. Why? Because we booked at a higher fare than what was currently being offered.
We were told by the customer service representative that because it was just a time change, we’d unlikely be able to apply for a refund. Now I can understand changing the departure time by a few hours, but an entire day? That causes issues with work, getting the dog to the kennel, and otherwise arranging trasportation to the airport. Sorry, not good enough. We were then referred to a ‘customer service’ number, where they could ‘theoretically’ authorise a refund. So we called. No answer. We were asked to leave a message and they’d return our phone call within 24 hours. OK, not ideal, but good enough.
Three days later, we received a phone call, after spending a total of 3 hours on hold. After explaining the situation, and how it had become such an inconvenience, we were offered a full refund. While no apology was made, nor any form of compensation or compramise from V Australia, we were at least able to rebook on another airline. You’d think they’d make more of an effort to keep customers, especially with Delta entering the LA to Sydney market later this year. But on top of all the other hardship that we were put through, our refund will take 21 days. Why should we wait, when the mistake was not our fault?
Ultimately, it all worked out for the best. We were able to find seats on a Qantas flight for the appropriate days, and even managed to save $600 over the previously booked fare. While that’s all well and good, it has convinced me to steer clear of V Australia. Based on my experiences, I believe you should too. Just try to have a look around to see what else is out there first, if you’re thinking of V Australia.
It’s not Hamilton Island, and you’re not getting paid to stay there, but at least they’re not charging you. National parks throughout NSW will waive entry fees on January 26 to celebrate Australia Day.
Premier Nathan Rees said Australia Day was a perfect time to appreciate the nation’s natural beauty.
“Our native bush is an important symbol of what it means to be Australian,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our parks are home to stunning scenery, relaxing picnic areas and an amazing array of wildlife and cultural heritage found nowhere else in the world.”
He said he hoped free entry would encourage people to go bush on Australia Day, with many parks holding special activities.
“Most people in Sydney could travel less than a half hour from home and find themselves surrounded by the Australian bush in a national park,” Mr Rees said.
“There is no better way for all of us to understand how important our natural environment is than by getting out there and experiencing the bush first hand.”
Here’s your chance to get out and explore the country around you. Whether you love your bushwalks, or have a love of photography, get out there and see the surrounding countryside before it’s gone!
As the rest of us get up at 6am to start our slow and arduous journey to the office today, one lucky individual will have what will end being the best job in the world.
Queensland, Australia tourism is hurting. Despite having some of the most amazingly beautiful terrain and tourist destinations in the world, the world’s financial crisis is really hitting the area hard. With hotel bookings down sharply, Queensland’s tourism board is taking it upon themselves to fix the problem:
They’re giving job seekers the chance to get paid $150,000 (AU$) to live six months rent free on the Great Barrier Reef. (Good luck getting onto the site. Apparently this sounds appealing to the entire world.)
The successful candidate will be asked to keep a blog and photo diary in exchange for six months rent-free on Hamilton Island as part of a $150,000 salary package that includes return airfares and travel insurance.
Australians and overseas applicants must be willing to “swim, snorkel, make friends with locals and generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle”. Sounds really hard, doesn’t it? Tough life. They’re pretty much asking the successfull applicant to do what many of us are doing already: blog, photograph, and enjoy the world around us.
Pretty tough, huh?
While the rain is bucketing down in Southern California, and snow is falling throughout the San Francisco Bay area, us here in Australia are gearing up for a Christmas that promises to be full of laughter, cheer, and the beach. Ah yes, Christmas time in Australia. Warm weather, a few beers with close mates and family, and a BBQ. Now that Christmas is actually upon us, I’m ready to celebrate.
When I first came to Australia for Christmas three years ago, I thought I’d miss the cold, cozy weather that comes with Christmas; bundled up inside by the fire.
I was wrong.
There’s something nice about having a warm Christmas, sitting out on the patio eating a nice Christmas lunch, lounging away the afternoon in a chair, drifting in and out of conciousness. I may have been a Christmas purist in the past, but I’m a believer in a Southern Hemisphere holiday season.
The only downside I truly find to having the seasons reversed is that when winter does hit us in Australia, it’s long. Almost unbearably so. Why? There’s no holiday season to really break up the monotany of cold weather and the short daylight hours, and unlike schools in the States, the summer break and the Christmas holiday break are pretty much just lumped together into one. It’s like being born on Christmas, you’re going to get fewer presents, and people combining the celebratory times into one, which ultimately draws the attention away from you. Where it really belongs.
Do I sound bitter? Not at all. None of that really applies to me. I’ve got a summer (now winter) birthday in August, and I’m out of school. It’s not like I have a summer holiday anymore anyways.
I suppose July/August is a good time of year to escape Australia and visit the family back in California. I think I’m on to something…
While I never expect to read a normal news article on any given morning these days, this one struck me as a bit odd. More so because this is the kind of thing you’d think you wouldn’t want advertised:
I understand that everyone needs a bit of relaxing time off, and there’s nothing better for morale than a well deserved break, but why would you A)require the entire Navy to take the time off at the same time, and B) advertise it!?
Ok, so it’s not shutting down entirely, and ships already deployed will continue with business as usual, but what if, for example, New Zealand tried to attack. (Oh hang on, there’s nothing to worry about there, unless you’re allergic to sheep). The Navy has said that “If an emergency occurs, other personnel will be ordered back to work.”
Hmm, OK.
In all honesty, I don’t see this as being an issue. The Navy says this is part of an initiative called “New Generation Navy” aimed at attracting and retaining more staff by changing the culture of the navy and improving the work-life balance of personnel. Probably because they can’t reach their recruitment targets. A good start I suppose, but you need to do a lot more than just giving everyone some time off to forget about how bad their jobs really are.
Do you agree with what the Australian Navy is doing? Is it really a good idea advertising this ahead of time?
I was up at the shops today, only to realise this: The Christmas decorations are up already.
Now I’m in Australia at the moment, and Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, but isn’t it too early? While I love Christmas (in fact it’s my favourite holiday of the year), I think that every year the holiday seems to be drawn out a little further. Now seeming to last over two months long, you start to wonder why…?
I personally think Christmas has been extended as long as it has because it has become a retail holiday. Apparently it’s all about giving gifts and spending money on each other. And while I love giving (and, I admit getting them too) gifts, we’ve lost track of what the holiday is all about. I’m not going to sit and preach about how one should appreciate the true value of Christmas, but I wonder this:
Do you believe that the Christmas season has been over extended?
Australians have always been considered some of the more relaxed and friendly people that you’ll ever meet as you travel throughout the world.
But is this changing?
As the world gets smaller through the advent of modern technology, this wonderful country isn’t as removed as it once was from the rest of the world. All of a sudden, Australia isn’t a big island in the middle of the ocean anymore. Australia is now a major player on the world market, and a “no worries” attitude doesn’t necessarily cut it when dealing with the international business market. The world is becoming a much more competitive place, and as it grows smaller, the fight to keep your head above water can become a bit more difficult. The “no worries” attitude doesn’t always fly. How long will we be able to hold on to this laid back attitude?
I’m not going to sit here and predict if the Australian outlook on life will change over the coming years, as it would be futile. It’s not if, but when. Australia has had an influx of immigrants from overseas over the last decade. Almost 1 in 4 residents of Sydney are foreign born, and when you have that kind of exterior influence on a country, customs and attitudes will change. While these can change rather quickly, stereotypes don’t. Fortunately, Australia has a great stereotype on the international scene, and these stereotypes aren’t shunned by the average Aussie. Backyard BBQ’s while throwing back a few stubbies and appreciating your close mates is part of what makes you an Aussie. While I’m relatively new to this lifestyle, only being in Australia for about 14 months now, these stereotypes are easy to adopt.
While Australia becomes a more of a world player, it’ll never be a economic benchmark. But Australians seem to be OK with that.
I would too, especially if that meant holding on to a “No Worries!” attitude.
