ATX: magazine issue 4

Quarterly, Issue 4

LABOUR PAINS

$6.95

March 2007

www.atxmag.com.au

Stunting industry growth BIG GAME

HUNTING

Who will survive the airways jungle?

WHERE THE

BLOODY HELL ARE THEY?

‘Brand Australia’ 12 months on.

GOOD

KARMA

India brings fortune to Australia

EXTENDED SEASON Wooing event tourists

SOME WHERE

OVER THE RAINBOW Chasing the pink dollar

The magazine of Australia’s inbound tourism industry: an official Australian Tourism Export Council publication

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atx: d atx: from the MD

atx: thecontent yoursay theinterview Minister Tim Holding

labourpains Stunting industry growth

Dear industry colleague

biggamehunting

How many businesses do you know with an annual staff recruitment cost of $2 million? Welcome to labour management in the tourism industry. In this issue of atx: veteran travel and tourism writer David Carroll explores the tourism industry’s labour crisis and what it means for the day-to-day lives of tourism operators. The inescapable conclusion of David’s piece is that both the industry and government are going to have to be bold and open-minded in their approach to ease the problem.

Who will survive the airways jungle?

wherethebloodyhellarethey?

‘Brand Australia’ 12 months on.

researchsnapshot India

goodkarma

Speaking of open-minded, this month atx: focuses on the gay market and what this lucrative demographic is looking for. In other market pieces we look at the events sector, the emerging Indian market and do a stock-take on the “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign. We also take a snapshot of NSW’s emerging Tweed Coast region, the venue for this year’s Symposium, and look back on 30 years of ATEC’s premium event.

India brings fortune to Australia

spotlight The Tweed

extendedseason Wooing event tourists

On a historical note, John I. Richardson looks at the contribution of Basil Atkinson, the man who could be claimed to be the “father” of the Australian Tourist Commission, while Anders Lindström talks to industry icon and the latest ATEC Life Member, Ron Murray. Meanwhile, we focus on a man who promises to have a major influence on our future - Victoria’s new Tourism Minister, Tim Holding and in his usual thought-provoking manner, aviation expert Ben Sandilands tangles with Tiger Airways.

somewhereovertherainbow

All this and more in our 4th edition of atx: - one year down, thank you for your positive feedback and for your advertising support – you’d be surprised who’s reading it!

Ron Murray

Chasing the pink dollar

atecintouch Atec Symposium - 30 years on

tourismhero whathappensontour…

Postcards from the road

By the way - someone out there owes us a case of good red for getting this far….. and I reserve the right to out him if he doesn’t cough up. No clues but a nice Yarra Valley rosé will do!

history Basil Atkinson

advertisingdirectory Matthew Hingerty Managing Director Australian Tourism Export Council

usefulstuff Your brand - is it worth it?

03 04 06 10 14 17 18 21 22 26 29 30 32 33 34 36

atx: is published by Sampson Communications Australia on behalf of the Australian Tourism Export Council. editorial

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publisher Rob Sampson managing editor Kerri Anderson editor Leah Dobbrick senior art director/designer Rosalind Hartney

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Phone 02 9922 3388 ATEC 02 8262 5500 Email editor@atxmag.com.au ATEC info@atec.net.au Web www.atxmag.com.au, www.atec.net.au

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images: Tourism Australia, Eyes Wide Open Images, James Walshe Photography, Zahrina Snell Photography

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© Sampson Communications Australia 2007

atx: yoursay

“What tourism initiatives or commitments would you like to see the government and opposition announce in the lead up to the 2007 federal election?”

The industry is suffering from an acute shortage of both skilled and unskilled workers. Many regional tourism businesses require assistance with their workforce - assistance which does not seem to be easily found within Australia.

This includes entry level hospitality industry positions such as room attendants, stewards, food and beverage attendants etc. The current immigration sponsorship arrangements only allow sponsorship of overseas workers for nominated trades attracting a salary of $39,000 or above. Entry level hospitality workers do not generally receive salaries of $39,000 and above in Australia.

Hospitality workers do not feature as a profession or trade in the Department of Immigration categories for overseas labour sponsorship. I would like to see the government acknowledge hospitality work as a bona-fide profession and allow Australian tourism businesses to recruit workers from overseas if they are unable to secure them from within Australia. This would require a lowering of the minimum sponsorship salary and the listing of hospitality work as a bona-fide trade.

atx: contributors

Anna Guillan Director of Sales & Marketing Hayman

One issue that I believe is extremely important is the national licensing of inbound tour operators, with sufficient authority to stop those operators who are disgracing and damaging the industry.

environmental best practice, tourism can make an enormous contribution to a more equitable and peaceful world.

Rick Suermondt Branch Manager WA Australian Tourism Export Council WA Branch

I would like to see a greater recognition by public policy-makers of tourism as a force for international peace.

The paradigms of global stability changed dramatically on September 11th 2001, bringing with it the need to build new and stronger bridges between different cultures, religions and historical allegiances.

The spectacular rise of the internet has provided unprecedented opportunities to expose and heighten world insecurity, but also to discover what connects and unites us in our shrinking global village.

With its unique ability to bring people together, as travellers and as hosts, tourism is a powerful force in promoting international understanding, reducing intolerance and breaking down stereotypes.

As an agent of sustainable economic growth, cultural enrichment and

Through a chain of tourism-related, often bilateral, initiatives, Australia can help unite the world community with a message of international friendship and conciliation. As well as reaching mainstream tourists from countries with different values and perceptions, such programs could include education, sport, business and scientific travel, training and employment schemes and the sponsorship of university research projects by our future industry leaders.

In a more peaceful and stable environment, tourism can move to even higher levels of influence in an atmosphere of reduced global tensions and greater economic wealth for the world and its people.

Kent Rossiter Branch Manager SA/NT Australian Tourism Export Council

go online and have

yoursay www.atxmag.com.au

Allan Leibowitz is a former editor of Business Queensland and the Australian Travel Reporter. He now specialises in business travel, and edits the specialist publication, Business Travel Monthly.

Kerri Anderson began her career as a newspaper journalist, and has extensive experience in tourism marketing and corporate communications. As National Media and Communications Manager of ATEC, Kerri describes atx: as one of the most rewarding projects she has worked on.

Graham Readfearn is an award-winning freelance journalist and feature writer.

He emigrated to Brisbane in December 2005 and has written for The Courier-Mail and its Saturday magazine QWeekend.

Ben Sandilands has reported airline affairs for 36 years. His contributions appear in The Australian Financial Review, Aviation Business Asia Pacific, and overseas publications served by the Guardian & Observer news service.

John Richardson has awards for journalism and tourism. In journalism he was both a foreign correspondent and foreign editor.

In tourism he directed Australian Tourist Commission operations in North America before taking charge of its worldwide marketing as Assistant General Manager.

David Carroll is one of Australia’s most experienced travel industry journalists and commentators. He has almost 15 years’ experience reporting on domestic and international travel businesses, including more than a decade editing award-winning travel industry journal Traveltrade.

Lee Mylne is a Melbournebased freelance journalist who has specialised in writing about travel and tourism for a range of consumer and trade magazines around Australia for the past 15 years.

Anders Lindström is a freelance journalist writing for a wide spectrum of magazines and newspapers. He is also a media consultant to several travel companies. Anders is the former features editor of Travel Week.

Jane E. Fraser is a former metropolitan newspaper journalist who has been specialising in travel and tourism for 10 years. Her writing appears in high profile newspapers, magazines and business journals and she spends much of her time editing travel publications.

atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: theinterview

Some might be forgiven for thinking that Victoria’s new Tourism Minister Tim Holding has a few too many ministerial balls to juggle.

Graham Readfearn talks to Victoria’s tourism young gun.

atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: timholding

“They say if you want something done properly, then you should give it to a busy person.”

Given the job at the end of November, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks also tossed the ministerial folders of Information and Communication Technology and Finance the way of the 34-year-old.

Holding is quick to rebut any accusations that with so much on his plate, he won’t be able to give tourism the attention it deserves.

“We had a great minister [John Pandazopolous] before me who was very visible. I will be highly visible and passionate,” he says. “People should judge me by the way that I perform and not on a preconception.”

Holding took up his new post just a month after the Victorian Government revealed its 10-year Tourism and Events Industry Strategy.

The strategy aims to grow Victoria’s tourism market from an $11 billion to an $18 billion industry by 2016, employing an extra 65,000 people.

Such an ambitious target is going to need investment and, with a seat on the government’s Expenditure Review Committee, Holding has a platform of influence.

“It is unusual to have a Finance Minister who is also the Tourism Minister, but that can be useful,” he says.

“The Strategy is going to be a key policy driver and crucial to growing the industry.

We think we have been very good at marketing Victoria as a tourism destination as well as a major events destination.

“We recognise that we don’t have an iconic

physical attraction like an opera house, an Uluru or the beaches of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

As a keen hiker, Holding is a big user of Victoria’s tourism product but also travels interstate with his walking boots.

“But what we do have is real diversity in this state. Events bring people to your city and your state and then puts you on an international stage. So just as another state might use a natural asset, we use our culture, our creativity and our major events.

Single, and with no children, he was born and raised in Melbourne and describes himself as a spirited and patient Melbournian.

“But we need to accept that we live in a very competitive environment in terms of events, so Melbourne’s domination will not be taken for granted. We will have to work hard to refresh our offering.”

Holding was in the headlines early into his tourism tenure over a row about how fast a Formula One car would be allowed to go along Melbourne’s Lygon Street.

The story presented a tidy metaphor for Holding’s own blistering rise to the upperreaches of Victorian politics. He became a city councillor aged just 20 and was the National President of Australian Young Labor in 1994. Five years later he was elected to parliament and by 2002 was in the Cabinet, aged just 30, as Minister for Manufacturing & Export and Minister for Financial Services Industry.

So what will he bring to his new role?

“I will bring a great deal of dedication and enthusiasm,” he offers. “I have already been meeting tourism operators and I know that they love what they do. I want them to know that they have a minister who is equally passionate. I am committed to promoting the state. We need to be listening to those tourism operators and also the perspectives of the tourists.”

But he says his patience is wearing thin with another of his pastimes – waiting for AFL club Geelong to win a Premiership.

“They last won one in 1963 and I wasn’t born until 1972! But Geelong is a great club and I love going there – even though I’m from Melbourne, the entire town gets behind the club which is great to be a part of.”

“We need to accept that we live in a very competitive environment in terms of events, so Melbourne’s domination will not be taken for granted. We will have to work hard to refresh our offering.”

atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: thecover

LABOUR PAINS

STUNTING INDUSTRY GROWTH A severe shortage of skilled and non-skilled labour is threatening to undermine the Australian tourism industry’s growth and its ability to deliver the highest-quality products and services.

David Carroll looks at an industry crisis.

atx:magazine:issuefour

Warwick Rock has already seen it happen to the hotels in the town of Alice Springs.

Staff leave and can’t be replaced, so middle management are forced to do the work themselves. Pretty soon standards are falling and then managers are so stressed they’re heading out the door.

“It’s a vicious circle,” says Rock, Connections Safaris’ quietly spoken Regional Operations Manager Central Australia.

Fifteen years ago he joined Connections as a tour bus driver and now he’s responsible for 30 people in the company’s Alice Springs office. Unless he can find some new recruits soon, he’ll be back behind the wheel in a few

months, as well as doing his full-time job.

And it’s not something he’s looking forward to.

“I know I couldn’t go on driving on the road and doing my job for an extended period. I work seven days a week as it is.”

Rock’s team operates the office, food stores and workshop that supports a fleet of 12 tour buses taking largely European clientele on three- and five-day safaris to some of Australia’s tourism icons.

Usually Connections employs around 15 drivers – up to 20 in high season – and it’s never been an easy task getting people to move a remote spot like the Alice. But

atx: labourpains “For a five-star hotel it takes six months to get to the point where a room attendant knows how to clean a room properly. And you just don’t have that commitment from someone who is a working holiday maker or a student who is there for an internship.” the current shortage is different and it’s impacting most other tourism operators in the region.

“Later on this year a group of us are looking at organising groups of people down in Sydney and interviewing them together,” Rock says. “We want to try and talk to them about coming to Central Australia, and we think meeting them face-to-face might be better.”

In order to try and keep the staff it has, in the past six months Connections has also increased wages for some of its best drivers. But it did so “under duress”.

“The company can’t really afford it,” Rock says. “Like most tourism businesses we work on small margins.”

CRISIS POINT The difficulties being experienced by Northern Territory tourism operators like Connections are hardly unique.

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) recently conducted two member surveys on labour issues and 74 percent of respondents claimed they were having difficulties finding adequate staff.

“There are areas of regional Australia holding really important tourism product that are having such severe difficulties that the only way they can manage is to employ students, working holiday makers, or anyone looking for a lifestyle change for a few months or between jobs,” Anna Guillan, Director of Sales and Marketing for five-star Whitsundays island resort,Hayman, says.

“And when you get into that cycle you have an incredible turnover of staff, because you know you are employing people who are really only going to be around for three to six months.”

The financial impact of the problem can be significant.

Hayman, for example, employs a total of 500 staff and, with the current rate of employee turnover, the property’s recruitment costs stand at around $2 million per year.

According to Guillan, however, even more concerning is the cost some tourism businesses are paying in terms of quality.

“In some industries it is perfectly okay to have a student or working holiday maker who comes along and picks grapes, grabs oranges off trees or does something somewhere you don’t see,” she says. “There isn’t a quality issue there.

“But for a five-star hotel it takes six months to get to the point where a room attendant knows how to clean a room properly. And you just don’t have that commitment from someone who is a working holiday maker or a student who is there for an internship.

“We strive to deliver a platinum experience,” Guillan says, “and to achieve that you need good, quality staff with tenure and longevity in what they are doing.”

Other tourism operators clearly share her concerns: 67 percent of respondents in ATEC’s surveys agree that labour difficulties are resulting in reduced levels of customer service and satisfaction.

“Because they can’t fix the problem, and no one seems to be listening, some companies will just keep recruiting, keep turning the staff over, keep training as best they can in the hope they’ll get through this,” she says.

“But the international visitors coming to these places are starting to say ‘I don’t want to be served by a college student or backpacker’. These people usually take holidays in places like the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas where they expect certain levels of service.

“It is an intangible thing. You can show figures to the government that demonstrate the terrible impact on the bottom line, but how do you convince someone this is actually having a deeper and much more significant impact on our industry because it is affecting quality outcome?”

There is no doubt, claims ATEC Managing Director Matthew Hingerty, that labour shortages are holding Australia’s tourism industry back.

“Managers are not managing their businesses if they have got to drive the bus,” he says. “And across Australia wings of hotels are being shut down because there is no one to clean them.”

Tourism businesses are also hesitating to develop new products and experiences, Guillan says, because they know a lack of quality staff will hamper delivery.

“Hotels and resorts are saying ‘it would be wonderful if we could introduce different classes, different experiences, bushwalks, etc’, but what’s the point if we can’t find the atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: coverstory hospitality professionals who will want to do it?’”

YOUNG AND RESTLESS With Australia’s unemployment figures at record lows, it is not unreasonable to expect a steadily growing, labour-intensive industry such as tourism to face staff shortages.

Tourism’s problems, however, are compounded by a number of factors.

Most employers are small to mediumsized companies, and many of Australia’s key tourism assets are located in regional or relatively remote areas such as the Red Centre or the islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Jobs can be highly seasonal and wages are relatively poor (average weekly earnings are between 13 percent and 46 percent below the all-industry average for full-time staff, according to a 2006 report published by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources).

Turnover is also high: ABS research suggests that just 68 percent of tourism employees work in the same job for more than one year, compared with the allindustry average of 80 percent.

The workforce is generally young and often transient, while skill levels are relatively low compared to other occupations.

Those skilled tourism workers Australia does produce are often lured to rival international destinations or regions including Asia and the Middle East offering better financial and career opportunities.

Growth in the number of people directly employed in Australian tourism jobs has failed to keep pace with the industry’s overall economic expansion.

Between 1997-98 and 2004-05, the number of people employed in the tourism industry grew 8.1 percent. Yet the total number of people employed in Australia grew 13.6 percent.

As a result, the total number of people employed in tourism fell from 5.9 percent in 1997-98 to 5.6 percent in 2004-05.

It is a complex problem. But to people unfamiliar with the tourism industry which includes most politicians and policy makers - the answer to the acute labour shortage appears simple: just pay more.

“I think real salaries have gone up marginally,” Hingerty says, “but the fact is we are competing against near neighbours

atx:magazine:issuefour

who have third world salary conditions.

“The labour component is still much higher in Australia than it is in our near competitors such as emerging destinations like Vietnam and China, which are having double digit inbound growth.”

At the same time, he says, no matter how much some regional tourism operators try to construct more attractive packages or include more incentives, they cannot compete with the mining sector.

Rock says his operation “can’t come half way to what the mining companies will pay”.

“Why drive a tour bus and have to drive, cook and act as guide,” he says, “when you can drive a truck in the mines, not worry about anything and get about triple the money and lots of time off?”

according to ATEC. “The difficulty in terms of researching the tourism industry is it is so broad and so disparate. It is difficult to put your arms around,” Hingerty says.

“But since we made our submission, the industry, through the National Tourism Alliance, has been heavily involved in discussion with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, and I understand that they are going to do a pilot study of the labour needs of a particular region and try and extrapolate it across the rest of Australia.”

In terms of training, the council is calling for a new approach. It is, for example, pushing for the development of interactive and portable e-learning programs, as well as an industry-wide tourism training portal.

But the most pressing issue is recruitment.

The industry has struggled to get its message through, but progress is being made. In July 2006 the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation announced an inquiry into the workforce challenges faced by the tourism sector.

ATEC’s submission calls for training incentives to be put in place that would help the industry attract more mature-age workers.

The committee has received close to 70 submissions and held public hearings in Canberra and Queensland addressed by such groups as Restaurants and Caterers Australia and Indigenous Business Australia, along with a number of small and large regional tourism operators.

“Most of our consumers are ageing baby boomers and not only are we making good dollars out of them as consumers, we should also turn to them as providers. They typically suit the workplace environment we have, such as part-time, seasonal and shift work. A lot of them don’t want to work full-time.”

“Everyone now recognises in the industry and the government that it is going to take a broad range of solutions,” Hingerty says.

A RANGE OF REMEDIES One of the very first things the government needs to do is commission research so it can gain a far deeper understanding of tourism’s labour needs going forward,

“It’s a mind-set of the tourism sector that this is a young people’s industry,” Hingerty says, “and that has got to change.

But with Australia’s population continuing to age and younger people being drawn overseas, operators want greater access to offshore labour markets. And it is in this area they believe the government can make regulatory changes that will have real impact.

atx: labourpains Reforms to Australia’s working holiday maker program are a good example.

Working holiday makers provide a welcome source of labour during seasonal peaks, and last year the government changed the rules by extending the amount of time a traveller could work in one job from three to six months.

Some tourism operators would like to see the government extend the period with one employer to 12 months, giving them more time to invest in individuals.

They would also like to see working holiday makers who take tourism or hospitality jobs in regional areas qualify for a second year visa.

with the government allowing operators to recruit from overseas markets such as the Philippines, Thailand, Korea and India.

“We’d be the first ones to say give us all Australian staff, but they are just not there,” Guillan says. “It is hard to convince people, particularly regional people, that there can be a career path in cleaning rooms, or being a laundry attendant or a maintenance worker.

“However, there are people in other parts of the world for whom cleaning rooms is an honourable profession and they would love to have a job in Australia for 18 months.”

“At the moment they can only get that second year by taking a regional agricultural job like fruit picking,” Rock says.

Rock also believes regional tourism operators have no choice but to look outside Australia.

“It would help us if the government said they could also get the extension by working in a remote location like the Queensland islands or the Red Centre.”

“There are simply not enough people in Australia at the moment, so creating something like a special needs area would be huge for us,” Rock says. “We’d be trying to pick out of the European and US markets for what we do.”

BUSINESS VISAS Another issue operators would like to see addressed is the current qualification requirements of long-term business visas (also known as the 457 visa).

“One of the problems with the 457 is that companies have to pay a minimum threshold base salary of $42,000 in metropolitan areas and almost $38,000 in regional areas,” Hingerty says. “And that is too high for most basic tourism jobs.

“In a remote location, for example, an employee might be on a full-time salary that is less than the required base salary, but they are supplied with a range of addons such as accommodation and meals.

“So while 457 may be helpful in some areas in some skilled trades, it is only a small part of the mix for us because it is frustratingly just out of reach for the salary threshold.”

One solution, he says, would be for the government to introduce a visa sub-class that allows for the temporary entry of semiskilled and unskilled workers.

“The real difficulty within the current criteria is that hospitality workers simply don’t exist,” Guillan says. “There needs to be some recognition that hospitality work is a profession, and that there is a whole industry out there that requires these people and can’t get enough of them.”

In its submission to the current inquiry, Hayman calls for the entire Whitsundays region to be declared a “special needs area”,

The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) is one group convinced that small changes can make a difference.

The association currently has a labour agreement with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations that entitles students from some training courses to stay in Australia for 18 months after they graduate. But to qualify, students must be offered a full-time job in a supervisory position and at a minimal level of remuneration.

“The problem,” says Bill Healey, AHA Director National Affairs, “is that the criteria are just too onerous. We want the government to extend it to two years and relax the conditions.

“These people have paid $60,000 on their education and they’ve spent 50 percent of their time in the market, so they are experienced. If we can just tinker with the existing eligibility criteria and guarantee them two years after they finish their degree, we would get access to another 2,000 kids a year.

“Many of them are from the countries we are looking at, like China and India, and they are mobile, which means they can move to places were there are jobs. It’s so logical that it’s too complicated for the bureaucrats.”

ATEC recently told a senate inquiry that the tourism industry’s labour shortages would

also benefit from seasonal labour being admitted to Australia from Pacific Rim countries.

“There is a two-way benefit here with respect to the Pacific Islands,” Hingerty says.

“It’s a generalisation, but we know the Pacific is generally unstable at the moment and there is an urgent need for foreign income. One of their strengths is tourism and there is a reasonable skill base in a lot of those island nations in tourism, so what better opportunity do we have to supply them with some foreign income than by allowing them to come and work here for a while.

“It’s building up their skill base and building ours - seems like a no-brainer to us.”

WHAT NOW? Getting politicians and policy makers to acknowledge and understand the current labour crisis facing the tourism industry has not been easy.

“It’s the usual story,” Hingerty says. “We are a broad-based, small-business industry and little decisions are taken every day in terms of business plans, employees, those sorts of things, and we don’t hear about them. They certainly don’t reach the policy makers other than through the industry associations.

“If a shift at the Holden factory in Melbourne closed because they couldn’t find workers there would be a national inquiry and a Royal Commission.

“But for the tourism industry it’s a case of ‘out in the Simpson Desert no one hears you scream’”.

Nevertheless an inquiry is now underway.

The question is will it be enough to affect change? Hingerty, for one, has doubts.

“We need to be fair to our elected representatives - they have responded,” he says. “But inquiries are one thing, policy action is another.

“I’m not, for example, holding my breath to see any major relaxation in foreign worker visas between now and the next federal election.”

For others the problem with inquiries is simple: they take time.

“The tourism industry needs this issue addressed with urgency and immediacy,” Guillan says. “The fact is nothing has really changed in the past 12 months other than a few people dialoguing about it.” atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: feature

BIG GAME HUNTING WHO WILL SURVIVE THE AIRWAYS JUNGLE? 10

atx:magazine:issuefour

Ben Sandilands goes on a tiger hunt in the Australian aviation jungle as Qantas/Jetstar and Virgin Blue draw up their plans to deal with the Singaporean predator.

atx: bighuntinggame Colourful though the metaphors have been about Tiger Airways’ plans for an Australian subsidiary, other dynamics are in play.

Much larger and more immediate are the changes that will accelerate within Qantas - regardless of whether the buyout eventuates, and through Virgin Blue’s simultaneous moves into true long-haul and short-haul regional routes.

While these developments create growth opportunities for tourism, they will also enhance importance for the airlines.

Qantas has a long-standing and mutuallybeneficial relationship with the industry which its competitors will need to emulate, and which its management, whether under private equity or listed status, already understands and promotes.

But the relationship isn’t going to be static either, as recent events make certain.

Tiger for example may seem inconsequential, but it represents elements of change that are already apparent in the operations of Jetstar - which has replaced Qantas in large or full measures on vital services to the Red Centre, the Whitsundays region and Tasmania.

tactical vantage point of already having a regional international network.

Tiger could match the wide-bodied fleet expansions of Jetstar as fast as it could acquire, for example, any of the large jets that are being compulsorily withdrawn from the Singapore Airlines fleet under an advantageous 10-year depreciation rule. The transfer of Qantas long-haul jets to Jetstar can be seen as a template for Tiger and its major shareholder, Singapore Airlines, to adopt.

This makes its ‘small’ entry to domestic routes of disproportionate interest to the industry, as does the nature of its southeast Asia operations to date.

Tiger is integrating the phenomenon of intra-Asia, low-cost clones of the Southwest, Ryanair and Jetstar model into the domestic hunting ground.

Like its larger and longer operating rival AirAsia, it is building a network of lowcost access within, and not just between, fast-growing countries to our north. This is happening in the EC, as easyJet and Ryanair become high-frequency, low-fare point-to-point carriers within bordering states they first served as short-range international carriers.

Jetstar’s scope for increasing inbound activity from Asia, the US and New Zealand is backed by an investment in large numbers of long-haul, wide-body jets, starting with the Airbus 332s servicing Asia, Japan and Hawaii, and the Boeing 787s that are to follow in coming years.

And that is exactly what Jetstar Asia is setting out to do from its Singapore base.

Bearing in mind how important Jetstar is and will continue to be for Qantas - it was

AirAsia, which is the largest and most successful low-cost carrier to our north, is

Tiger, like Jetstar, motivates visitors with price and linked tourism opportunities.

Both seek frequent leisure travellers far more than frequent flyer sky warriors.

Capacity wars are back. In the past, large numbers of seats at low fares have meant a short-term stimulus of traffic at considerable risk to the airlines.

Suddenly, the industry isn’t contemplating one or more new domestic carriers, but regionally, perhaps eventually globally integrated carriers - a strategy which took its first small steps with the Qantas establishment of Jetstar Asia in Singapore.

While it is tempting to call Tiger’s Australian expansion a punitive response to Jetstar’s Singapore fling, it is truly a case of noticing a golden opportunity guarded by an open door, one which doesn’t require a different type of jet than it already flies to Darwin and Perth.

Tiger may have to take on more than Jetstar on its domestic expansion with Virgin Blue’s revelation that it is studying a Virgin Blue ‘ultra’ brand, which its Chief Executive Officer Brett Godfrey describes as a ‘service for those to whom loyalty is based only on price’.

A true blue?

The most immediate consequence of Virgin Blue’s financial strength is its declaration that it will no longer exercise restraint in adding capacity to protect and enlarge market share.

It stopped chasing what it terms the ‘visit to see Aunt Edna’ market more than a year ago and pursued the suits, or more accurately, those who work for themselves, but don’t wear suits, and don’t travel on big end of town corporate accounts yet decided they could afford to fly on business.

But in something of a u-turn, Virgin too is preparing to refocus on leisure travellers as a component of its business, and just in time for the launch of long-haul flights to the US and ‘north Asia’ with a product that will offer a luxury business class and unspecified innovations for leisure travellers.

This means capacity wars are back. In the past, large numbers of seats at low fares have meant a short-term stimulus of traffic at considerable risk to the airlines.

But this time there is a difference.

given high ranking by the Airline Partners Australia buy-out consortium – let’s review the other forces for change, starting with Tiger.

Tiger is no more about a small fleet of five A320s by this Christmas than Virgin Blue was about inaugurating service with two token 737s on the eve of the Sydney Olympics. And unlike the latter, it is pouncing on the local market from the

also interested in Australia, but is turning north-west before it heads south-east, and says it will launch wide-bodied services from Kuala Lumpur and other centres to Europe within a year.

Virgin Blue had cash cover of nearly 140 days and Qantas/Jetstar around 80 days as of last month. This means they can inflict real harm on new competitors long before they start to harm themselves.

It sees its entry into Australia as inevitable, and like Oasis in Hong Kong, its long-haul expansion seems to owe much of its inspiration to Jetstar International.

There are some immediate consequences of Virgin Blue’s entry into the long-haul markets and its introduction from the second half of this year of 70 and 98 seat versions of the Embraer E-jets. atx:magazine:issuefour

11

atx: feature New technology small jets with big jet comfort signals the likelihood of fare wars in parts of Australia where they have rarely, if ever, been experienced.

This is because Jetstar (long-haul) is charged with growing the total share of international travel for Qantas, and because the APA bid identified that strategy as driving much of the future value they want to extract from Qantas.

One is the obvious relief of claimed price and capacity choke points to the US.

the frequent leisure travellers this new competitive dynamic will create.

Yet Qantas has been pursuing a total restructuring of its business to address a much harsher competitive environment since well before the bid arose.

Qantas is opposed to Singapore Airlines getting Australia-US access, and it is Virgin Blue’s as yet unnamed long-haul carrier that is keeping them out.

Virgin Blue is also trying to negotiate with Boeing and Airbus for a longer-range, medium-sized jet, most likely a derivative of the 787-9 that Qantas and Jetstar have ordered, to compete with their already announced interest in connecting Australia non-stop with important middle-America markets offering substantial upside to inbound tourism operators.

Qantas has been changing its product mix, revising its loyalty program, refining its online alternatives to traditional distribution methods, streamlining its regional routes and investing in new international initiatives, and locating appropriate parts of its workforce and maintenance and engineering requirements off-shore.

Tapping the visitor potential of middleAmerica has been a goal of Tourism Australia for several decades. Only now is aircraft technology coming into play to make that happen, with the weight, fuel and maintenance savings promised by the 787 family resulting in medium-sized jets capable of 17-19 hour non-stop flights.

Europe has long been non-stop from anywhere in the US - soon this will be true of Australia.

It has recognised for at least five years that practices that some parts of the community are demanding it guarantee to leave unchanged would send Qantas broke in the competitive environment in which it must fly.

But also of strategic importance is the addition of substantial competitive capacity to regional routes by Virgin Blue’s new type of jets which will be aimed at destinations now served almost exclusively

by Qantaslink turbo-props.

Even without the distinct possibility that Virgin Blue will lift its E-jet order to as many as 40 jets compared to the 20 now listed as firm, it is the largest single investment program in a new type of airliner that regional Australia has ever seen, starting this August.

This expansion of the contest between Qantas and Virgin Blue to ports that can be economically accessed by new technology small jets with big jet comfort signals the likelihood of fare wars in parts of Australia where they have rarely, if ever, been experienced.

It is also a positive for the industry though improving the convenience and marketability of Australia’s less-visited attractions because the Embraers deliver seat costs competitive with those of much larger single aisle jets.

A challenge for the industry is to persuade Virgin Blue of the merits of working with regional and national tourism enterprises.

This will ensure its long-term support by

STAY IN MELBOURNE

The fact that Qantas/Jetstar and Virgin Blue are pursuing the benefits of efficiently offering such a huge latent source of visitors with non-stop departures from cities like Chicago, Dallas, or St Louis offers breakthrough growth for the inbound sector in the next five years.

ALL CHANGE AT QANTAS There are persuasive grounds for suggesting that current events are transforming rather than weakening the long-standing relationships between Qantas and the industry, as well as governments, business and community groups.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon has emphasised more than once that watching Ansett die drove much of the change agenda that his management team subsequently put in place.

It would be impossible for the existing Qantas, or an APA-owned Qantas, to adhere to such conditions without so severely constraining its operational flexibility that it gets picked off by competitors unburdened by such obligations.

The fact that they are being proposed at all just shows that some sections of the community or their representatives have not grasped the changes that are reshaping air transport.

The true strength of Qantas for tourism lies in the continuity of a productive relationship with industry stakeholders,

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12

atx:magazine:issuefour

STAY YOUR OWN WAY

atx: bighuntinggame Will that be left to a re-listed Qantas if the consortium achieves ITO goals in a fiveyear interval and floats the enterprise to new shareholders as planned, or will that happen during ITO stewardship?

The fact that Qantas/Jetstar and Virgin Blue are pursuing the benefits of efficiently offering such a huge latent source of visitors with non-stop departures from cities like Chicago, Dallas, or St Louis offers breakthrough growth for the inbound sector in the next five years.

even though the way those relationships work is constantly being reshaped by changes in distribution technology and demography and emerging inbound markets from China, India and improving south-east Asian economies.

If the APA bid succeeds what might change for tourism? The Texas Pacific Group led

by David Bonderman, would not be in the consortium if it isn’t going to influence Qantas.

However, none of the changes now presenting themselves to the industry are uniquely attributable to the Qantas bid. Tiger would have come anyhow, and the price-driven and distribution-related changes already embraced by Qantas and Virgin Blue are in the process of being imposed on traditional distribution channels.

Bonderman has been the chairman of Ryanair Holdings since 1996, successfully restructured Continental Airlines out of bankruptcy, and was a founding investor in Tiger Airways - although that stake is no longer of material size.

The APA bid may have accelerated these changes too rapidly, and created too many unintended consequences, for its own assumptions to remain attractive, even if Canberra leaves the deal alone, or as Treasurer Peter Costello put it “leaves them on their own”.

The fierce Ryanair fixation with relationships that produce unambiguously measurable benefits is therefore likely to be felt by the industry at an early stage.

A more difficult issue is whether or not Qantas will continue with follow-up product and fleet investment on top of its announced $10 billion capex program.

Those could be interpreted as the most alarming words anyone in government has directed at Qantas in living memory. Yet they may be the prelude to a far greater and more fiercely competitive Qantas in the future, with tourism a winner.

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Book now by calling 02 8765 2300 or visit stadiumtour.com.au atx:magazine:issuefour

13

atx: feature

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Jane Fraser looks at ‘Brand Australia’ 12 months on.

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27/4/06 4:46:55

Still coming, according to industry leaders who say detractors of Tourism Australia’s “So Where The Bloody Hell Are You?” advertising campaign have been too quick to judge.

The campaign is now 12 months old and arrivals figures for that period have been less than exciting, but some believe the benefits of the controversial campaign are only just starting to flow.

Having remained decidedly flat for most of last year, arrivals figures picked up towards the end of 2006 and are expected to further recover this year, as awareness created by the campaign starts to convert into bookings - helped along by what is expected to be a weakening of the Australian dollar, more air capacity and cheaper fuel prices.

The latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) figures show visitor nights and expenditure are up 12 percent on the previous year and a web poll of ATEC

14

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JANE E. FRASER LOOKS AT

‘BRAND AUSTRALIA’S’ LATEST CAMPAIGN MONTHS ON.

12

atx: wherethebloodyhellarethey? members also indicates international visitors are staying longer and spending more.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Geoff Buckley says the industry should never have expected instant results from the campaign.

“It’s a brand campaign, it’s about changing the long-term view of Australia as a destination,” Buckley says.

“We know that the purchasing cycle can be three or four years, or even five years.”

Buckley says current arrivals figures should be looked at in the context of marketing that was done three years ago and the current campaign is just starting to “get some traction”.

He points out that destinations such as Malaysia and New Zealand have had brand campaigns running for up to seven years and are still reaping the benefits.

Denis Pierce, Managing Director of ATS Pacific, which specialises in the UK market, agrees the success of the campaign will be seen over coming years.

“It has to be viewed over a longer term than the 12 months that it’s been around,” Pierce says.

“We need to give it some airspace.

“I think the campaign’s come pretty close to extolling some of the true elements of what Australia is.

“The only tragedy, if you can call it a tragedy, is that we need a few more dollars to get it out there.”

Austour Managing Director Max Whitehead, who targets the European market, disagrees, saying while the UK market “half understands” the campaign, it is lost on most Germans and other European travellers.

“I think a lot of tourists coming down here are ones that might not take to it, unfortunately,” Whitehead says.

Tourism Minister Fran Bailey is adamant the only market in which the campaign is not working well is Japan, where it is difficult to separate the campaign from a myriad of other factors.

“It’s very easy sometimes, if you’re having difficulties in a market, to put a label on something that is very obvious,” she says.

“I think we need to dig down and look at what the real issues are.”

marketing budgets of destinations such as Hawaii, China, Korea and Europe.

Bailey says the industry as a whole needs to be looking at whether it is providing Japanese travellers with the right products (including airline seats) and information.

“TA can’t just do it (the advertising campaign) the same way as other countries because you lose the momentum in the Japanese market,” she says.

“The reality is that you can spend money on an advertising campaign but if you’re not promoting the means of getting to the country and the sort of product that that market needs, it doesn’t matter what advertising campaign you use,” she says.

“They needed to maybe put it in a different way, something a bit different to what they are doing now.”

Fran Bailey shies away from any discussion of cutting the campaign loose in Japan,

“While I am acutely aware that there is some really stringent criticism here within Australia, certainly in the American market we could not have hoped for a better response.”

Bailey rejects any assertion that the campaign is not culturally appropriate for the Japanese market or does not translate well.

“People say that to me but until we have given it more time, I don’t really think we can make that judgement,” she says.

Bailey’s comments are at odds with those of Jalpak Director of Japanese Inbound Tour Operator, Corporate Planning Yoshimi Kobayashi, who says: “From a cultural point of view and a language point of view, this cheeky message doesn’t translate into Japanese.

saying carefully and repeatedly: “Tourism Australia is monitoring it very closely.”

Geoff Buckley says he has instructed Tourism Australia’s advertising agency in Japan to looking at “tweaking” the message of the campaign for the Japanese market.

“The trade are looking for something a little bit stronger in terms of the invitation,” he says.

However, he also stresses that no advertising campaign will be the sole answer to the woes of the Japanese market.

“I think basically the campaign is good... visually, it’s very good, but the message hasn’t been delivered in the same way it has been in the western world.

“I think the campaign copped flack because the market isn’t going well but that was an unrealistic expectation of the campaign,” he says.

“It doesn’t translate directly into Japanese words… it’s been translated into ‘why don’t you come to Australia’, so it’s lost the meaning that TA wanted to put into it.”

Fran Bailey says the campaign has been particularly effective in the US market, where she recently spent time for G’Day USA: Australia Week.

Kobayashi agrees problems with the Japanese market are far greater than the advertising campaign.

American Express figures released during the G’Day USA promotion showed 72 percent of readers of American Express publications were taking further action such as visiting Tourism Australia’s australia.com website after seeing the advertising campaign.

“There are other difficult issues such as airline issues and now that the Australian currency is getting stronger against the Japanese yen and there are the fuel surcharges, it is all coming together to make it harder for Japanese travellers to come to Australia,” she says.

However, Kobayashi does believe Australia is being pushed aside by the larger

The figures also showed that 19 percent of American Express card members increased their spending on flights to and within Australia in 2006 and that their spend in Australia was up 22 percent.

atx:magazine:issuefour

15

atx: feature “The industry supports it, there’s absolutely no doubt about that, the industry supports it wholeheartedly.”

Austour’s Max Whitehead begs to differ, estimating only 50 percent of the industry was in favour of the campaign when it was launched at the Australian Tourism Exchange.

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“No one was overwhelmed by it,” he says.

“But then, we didn’t all like the prawn on the barbie (advertising campaign featuring Paul Hogan) for a while, and that worked.”

A 1045-2 297x440 Camels CS1.indd 1

27/4/06 4:44:19 PM

“We didn’t all like the prawn on the barbie campaign for a while and that worked.”

Fran Bailey reminds the industry that the campaign, which generated a rash of publicity and debate when it was first launched, was effective in grabbing people’s attention, against fierce competition from destinations with much bigger promotional budgets.

“It got out there in people’s faces and that’s what it was designed to do,” she says.

“That’s really the first hard data where we’re actually looking at dollars spent and seats booked as a result of the campaign,” Bailey says.

Loucks says Sydney has slipped four places in Carlson Wagonlit’s Top 50 selling destinations, coming in at 27th, with Melbourne scraping in at 50th place.

“While I am acutely aware that there is some really stringent criticism here within Australia, certainly in the American market we could not have hoped for a better response.”

However, he believes the drop is more to do with Americans returning to Europe after a lull in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks than anything Australia is doing or not doing.

(British regulators, objecting to the use of the word ‘bloody’, created a rash of free publicity for the campaign by banning it from British television. They later lifted the ban.)

Yet, American travel giant Carlson Wagonlit suggests we might be overestimating the importance of the campaign, with spokesman Steve Loucks saying: “It’s doubtful most Americans have even seen it.

Geoff Buckley says he is wearing a lot less criticism as the campaign gathers momentum - “people are now starting to say it looks like it’s on track and are feeling more comfortable,” he says.

Fran Bailey is certain the campaign has the support of the Australian tourism industry.

Bailey remains confident the campaign will come to be seen a successful one.

“Australia largely remains an aspirational destination, a place that they dream of someday travelling to regardless of what an ad campaign says,” he says.

16

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“The only people who have condemned the campaign are here in Australia and are outside the industry,” she says.

“We were assisted, without doubt, by the British Government.”

“The figures, in the end, are the determining factor and the first real, hard data we’ve had is the American Express material,” she says.

ATS Pacific’s Denis Pierce agrees, saying: “Let’s look back at it in three years.”

the

tweed

After generations as a favourite with holidaying Australian families, the Tweed is emerging as one of Australia’s fastest growing international destinations, a trend reflected by an accommodation boom in the region. Lee Mylne

reports.

Stretching from the Queensland/NSW border, south of the Gold Coast, to Pottsville/Wooyung and west to the Border Ranges, the Tweed is only an hour’s drive from Brisbane International Airport and 15 minutes from Gold Coast Airport.

Attracted by large, new international resorts as well as exclusive private rainforest hideaways and luxury B&Bs, visitors are discovering a region determined to preserve its identity and natural beauty.

Roughly divided into three parts – Tweed Heads, the Tweed Coast and The Tweed Valley - the region offers a diversity of experiences. Most of the major new development has been along the Tweed Coast, around Kingscliff, within easy access of the new multi-million dollar Salt Village and Casuarina Beach developments where new resorts include Peppers Resort and Spa, Outrigger on the Beach at Salt, and Casuarina Beach Resort. Seven more developments are expected to open on this stretch of coastline this year.

Tweed Tourism General Manager Terry Watson says the massive growth experienced in the past three years presents many challenges – not least of which is how to fill the increasing number of hotel rooms.

atx: spotlight In 2003, the Tweed offered 1200 rooms.

Today it has 3000 and expects to have 5000 by 2009. The Tweed is currently ranked 17th in NSW for visitation numbers, but needs to lift itself to seventh place in order to get the occupancy needed by the new properties.

“The inbound market is the key to doing that,” says Watson. The target is to raise visitation from 450,000 a year to between 650,000 and 700,000 in three years.

While the region is “very new to inbound”, Watson says it was already seeing substantial interest from group tours from the Gold Coast to established attractions such as Tropical Fruit World, Catch A Crab and Tweed Endeavour Cruises.

“We are also getting interest from Asian groups, especially Korea, as well as the US and European markets because it is relatively undeveloped, and that is part of the attraction,” he said.

“The New Zealand market is strong for the Tweed Valley, and there is considerable interest and a growing number of visitors from the high yield market of Canadian ‘snowbirds’, who stay for up to three months.”

Watson says any destination experiencing this level of growth faces enormous challenges.

“The other significant problem is that when you take a destination that was very lowkey, accommodation stock is only a part of it; we need to have the activities and experiences to go with it.

“We are a relatively immature market and we need the right product and activities, to a level that inbound markets expect.”

Narelle Eichorn, Director of Sales and Marketing for Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, agrees.

“There is a lot at stake, but we believe that this region has a lot to offer,” she says.

“It’s only 15 minutes from the Gold Coast airport and has the infrastructure needed.”

Eichorn says Outrigger has had “keen interest” from Korean and Chinese groups, and from younger Japanese visitors, who are looking at surfing, kayaking and other adventure activities. German and UK wholesalers were also including the resort in their brochures.

Tweed Tourism and individual operators are also working with Tourism NSW and have hosted several key wholesalers and product managers to the region. The region will also be attending Oz Talk NZ and ATE this year, and is looking at other trade shows and missions in USA and Europe in the future. Watson sums it up like this: “We are optimists who love a challenge”.

atx:magazine:issuefour

17

Good Karma

Indians bring fortune to Australia

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atx: goodkarma Holidaying overseas comes a close second to buying a house in the dreams of middle-class Indians – and making sure Australia is chosen to fulfil that dream is becoming a strong focus within the tourism industry. Lee Mylne examines one of Australia’s fastest growing markets.

With an Indian Market Research Bureau study revealing the top two aspirations of the Indian middle-class, Australia’s tourism bodies are targeting well-off family groups, honeymooners and the incentive market in their plans to scoop a share of the market.

Tourism Australia has announced plans to open an office in India this year – probably in Mumbai – and Tourism Queensland did so in December.

Current strategies for taking advantage of opportunities in this rapidly growing market are aimed at increasing visitor numbers using a range of innovative marketing programs and public relations activities in India.

Indian television viewers have already been exposed to the “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign (“they would like you to be more polite”, says one inbound operator) as well as Tourism Queensland’s new “Where Else but Queensland” television advertisements.

Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey recently released the National Tourism Emerging Markets Strategy: China and India, which predicts the Indian market will reach 550,000 tourists by 2025, with an economic value of more than $2 billion. It is the second largest travel market in Asia after China and is one of the fastest growing markets throughout the world.

While it still only ranks 16th in Australia’s inbound markets, the Tourism Forecasting Committee predicts an expected average annual growth rate in arrivals of 15.6 percent over the next 10 years, taking the arrivals forecast for 2015 to 292,000. In 2006 visitors to Australia from India increased by 23 percent.

Tourism Australia’s marketing strategy for India is aimed at capturing the top end of the market, including the growing honeymoon market.

In this area, Tourism Queensland is already on the mark. Tourism Minister Margaret Keech says the state has proved “an irresistible attraction” to honeymooners from other Asian markets “and I believe Indian couples can be similarly attracted”.

Tourism Queensland has hosted a large group of Indian travel agents who specialise in honeymoon holidays, and will continue to work closely with agents and the media to increase visitor numbers and media exposure.

“It is imperative that we take advantage of the enormous growth we have seen recently in this rapidly emerging market,” says Keech.

“Indian arrivals to Queensland are growing strongly, as is the amount of money they spend while here.

“Almost one in three Indian visitors to Australia came to Queensland in the year to September 2006, with 60 percent of them here for holidays. Visitor expenditure increased by almost 24 percent in the same period.

Keech says an increase in expenditure of up to 400 percent by Indian holidaymakers is expected by 2016.

“People compare the Indian and Chinese markets, but there is a big difference,” he says. “The Chinese are often making their first visit to a western country, whereas Indians have usually already been to Europe and the Far East and have no language problems.”

Strong industry support saw Tourism Australia’s largest ever India travel mission take place last September in Cochin, with 48 Australian sellers – 13 of them from Queensland - and 114 Indian travel buyers taking part.

A recent Queensland trade mission to India was aimed at attracting young and wealthy holidaymakers, and at understanding the India market in order to develop more competitive tourism packages and help secure more air access from and to India.

Keech says 25 tourism operators took part in the trade visit - almost double that of the previous year - reflecting a heightened awareness of the Indian market’s value.

The Gold Coast is the top tourism destination for Indian travellers, attracting 54 percent of Indian visitors to Queensland in the year to September 2006. Almost half of Indian visitors to Queensland are aged 25 to 44, and enjoy the Gold Coast’s nightlife, shopping and beaches.

“Having Queensland representatives on the ground in a lucrative emerging market such as India is crucial to boosting international visitors to our state.”

In 2005 travellers from India spent a total of $326 million on trips to Australia, with an average expenditure of $5,164 per trip.

This high expenditure is one of the key differences between India and other markets, says Business Tourism Australia Chief Executive Peter Colahan, who has been working in the Indian market since 1992.

Colahan says the key to the Indian market is its high yield.

“I am still amazed at the spend per person on land content,” he says. “They stay in four or five star hotels, and they do everything – restaurant meals, cruises, hot-air ballooning, the theme parks…

“Indian travellers are unique in that they do a three-city minimum and are a very high yield market.

In the lead-up to the peak travel season of April to June, Tourism Australia and industry partners are undertaking an intensive campaign which will use celebrity endorsement through primetime television dramas and leading lifestyle magazines as well as online promotions and consumer roadshows.

Colahan says Australia has high recognition and is easy to sell in India because of Commonwealth ties and Indians’ interest in cricket.

But he says both suppliers and the industry in general face some cultural challenges in catering to Indian visitors.

“Food is the number one issue; providing Indian food for all meals, including breakfast with vegetarian options. The other main issue for day tour operators is timing – they are not very punctual,” he says. atx:magazine:issuefour

19

atx: feature Erin Rolfe, International Sales Manager at Dreamworld and Whitewater World said the theme park’s halal restaurant had recently introduced Indian buffet options to meet demand from group tours.

Dreamworld, which attracts about 15,000 Indian visitors each year, was also keen to increase business from the lucrative and growing incentives market, making use of its after-hours facilities.

Attracting greater numbers is one thing; getting them to Australia is another, with access and capacity among the key challenges being faced by the industry.

While many carriers, such as Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific service India well from Asian hubs with connections to Australia, the only direct flights between Australia and India are currently Qantas’ three times a week Sydney-Mumbai service.

Increasing direct aviation access and capacity between India and Queensland will be a major priority this year, says Keech, who held meetings with Indian Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, Qantas and Singapore Airlines while in India.

20

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Tours Manager Jaideep Singh, of Ingwest, says the move to open tourism offices in India is timely but Australia needs to ease visa rules for genuine travellers and to address the issue of domestic airfares.

He says Australia will have to compete with Europe and the Far East for India’s business, and advocates the introduction of a special “three to four cities” domestic fare by Qantas to help attract the market.

look after in terms of distribution” with “only a handful of major players” in wholesaling.

The wholesaler concept is not well developed in the Indian travel industry. Some larger travel agents have begun developing their own distribution networks of smaller independent agents, and most large retail agents brochure and market their own programs with links to inbound tour operators.

Another major objective for Tourism Australia is the development of the Aussie Specialist program, especially in the key source markets of Mumbai and Delhi.

Western and northern India provide 60 percent of all Indian visitors to Australia, with Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata also important sources.

Colahan says there is enormous potential for promoting self-drive holidays taking in wineries and regions like the Great Ocean Road.

Peter Colahan says India is “a very expensive market to service and a massive country to

“Every NTO is queuing up to get into India.

The competition for travel is amazing.”

“Anyone who wants to do business with India needs to learn about the market and start servicing it with attractive packages,” he says.

atx: researchsnapshot

India- an emerging inbound market for Australia The Indian economy has been growing strongly for a number of years. Between 1999 and 2006, India’s real GDP grew at an average annual rate above six percent. The growing economy, coupled with a boom in the industry and service sectors, low inflation, low interest rates and tax cuts has led to an average annual increase in disposable incomes of eight percent during the same period.

As a result, consumer spending on leisure activities also averaged growth of eight percent a year. Further, easier access to foreign exchange and credit facilities has also supported rapid growth in outbound travel.

In 2006, almost 84,000 Indian visitors arrived in Australia, which was almost 20 times more visitors than in 1980. There was significant growth in the number of Indian visitors after 1993 when the total number of visitors to Australia was around 12,000.

Between 1993 and 2006, visitors coming to Australia for employment purposes increased by 34 percent annually. During this period, visitors coming for education, business or holiday purposes rose at an average annual rate of around 20 percent.

The number of visitors coming to visit friends and relatives also increased strongly during this period: rising at an average annual rate of around 15 percent.

Indian visitors have a number of distinguishing characteristics from other international visitors. On average, Indian visitors stayed 50 nights in Australia in the year ended September 2006, compared to only 29 nights for other international visitors. This longer average length of stay was driven mainly by the fact that a much higher proportion of visitors from India travelled for education/employment: 21 percent of visitors from India travelled for this purpose, compared to an average of only eight percent for all other countries.

These visitors (whether from India or elsewhere) stayed in Australia for an average of 130 nights. Further, visitors from India who travelled for business or to visit friends and relatives stayed around twice as long as visitors from other countries. In contrast, visitors from India travelling on holiday accounted for a lower proportion of all visitors (25 versus 52 percent) and did not stay for as long (13 versus 22 nights).

Visitors from India had an average of 1.8 stops in Australia, one less stop than the average of all international visitors. Fiftyeight percent visited only a single region in

Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne the most visited regions, together accounting for 76 percent of nights spent by visitors who stayed in only one region and 73 percent of all visits. Of those who visited multiple regions in Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Tropical North Queensland and the Gold Coast were the most visited, accounting for 78 percent of multi-region nights and 78 percent of visitors.

Indian visitors directly spent an average of $3,400 each in Australia in the year ended September 2006. This amounted to a total of approximately $260 million, excluding expenditure on pre-paid international airfares and packages. Indian visitors are estimated to have made a total economic contribution to Australia of about $330 million in 2006, representing 1.7 percent of the total economic contribution of all international visitors.

Growth in visitors is predicted to continue with the latest Tourism Forecasting Committee forecasts (October 2006) indicating that the potential growth in outbound travel from India is significant.

The economic contribution of travellers from India is forecast to reach $1.2 billion in real terms in 2015, equivalent to 3.5 percent of the total inbound market. The number of visitors to Australia from India is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 17 percent between 2006 and 2015 to reach 327,000, with growth in holiday travel expected to be stronger than all other purposes. This positive outlook is supported by strong economic growth prospects, an expected expansion of aviation capacity serving the domestic, inbound and outbound markets, and a continuation of the trend of outbound travel increasingly becoming a ‘way of life’ for middle/upper class Indians.

Visitors to Australia, year ended September 20061

INDIA

OTHER

No. of visitors (‘000) Average length of stay (nights) Main stopover regions (% of total nights)

Single stopover (% of total visitors) Multiple stopovers (% of total visitors) Purpose of visit (%):

Holiday

Business

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR)

Education & Employment

Other2 First time visitor (% of total visitors) Return visitor (% of total visitors) Gender (%):

Male

Female Age of visitors (%):

15–24 years

25–34 years

35–44 years

45–54 years

55 years & older Average total expenditure per visitor (A$) Total Inbound Economic Value (A$million)

76 50 Sydney (37%) Melbourne (36%) 58 42

4 946 29 Sydney (31%) Melbourne (17%) 51 49

25 27 21 21 6 62 38

52 17 20 8 2 42 58

63 37

52 48

19 30 18 14 19 3 373 329

16 23 20 19 22 2 654 18 588

1 Only includes visitors 15 years and older 2 Other includes immigration and in transit Source: TRA International Visitor Survey (unpublished data)

atx:magazine:issuefour

21

atx: feature

When tourism officials talk about major events, inevitably, the Melbourne Cup is mentioned alongside the Cannes Film Festival, the US Masters Golf, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Hong Kong Sevens. But as Allan Leibowitz reports, the Australian events scene is far from a one-horse race.

EXTENDED SEASON:

WOOING EVENT TOURISTS 22

atx:magazine:issuefour

atx: extendedseason The race that stops a nation is so important to the Victorian economy that its organiser, the Victoria Racing Club, last year won the Governor of Victoria Export Award in the Sports, Events & Tourism category.

According to VRC Chief Executive Dale Monteith, the 2005 Melbourne Cup Carnival generated a $318 million benefit to the Victorian economy – over 50 percent more than the Australian Open, the next most important event.

The racing carnival attracted more than 380,000 patrons over the four days - an attendance increase of more than 50 percent on 10 years ago - and 30,000 of those were international visitors.

While international attendance may have dipped last year, Monteith predicts that it will take off again next year, especially in the wake of the stunning success of the Japanese horses in the Melbourne Cup. Victoria’s second-biggest event drawcard is the two-week tennis extravaganza, the Australian Open.

It’s too early to determine how many overseas visitors attended the recordbreaking 2007 event, but Tennis Australia estimates that 18,557 of the attendees in 2005 were international visitors, 6,495 coming to Australia especially for the event and 1,930 extending their visits to attend.

Melbourne’s title as Australia’s event capital is further enhanced by the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, snared from South Australia in 1996.

According to the most recent analysis of the event, the Grand Prix drew 23,606 international visitors in 2005. Significantly, 8,262 of these came to Melbourne just for the event, while 1,309 extended their stay to attend the race.

The Grand Prix also drew 2,676 interstate and overseas media representatives, drivers, and team members and officials who contributed a further $18.3 million to direct visitor expenditure.

Melbourne’s reputation as a host of sporting events was reinforced during last year’s Commonwealth Games, which according to organisers, drew 65,037 international visitors, athletes, officials and media representatives.

That reputation can be attributed largely to the Victorian Major Event Company, the state government entity which has been a key part of Victoria’s significant efforts to lock in existing events and attract new ones.

“A staggering 42 percent of events visitors to Australia are to Victoria, bringing billions of dollars into the state each year. “ “Major events contribute approximately $1.2 billion of economic benefit to Victoria per annum,” according to Peter Abraam, VMEC Chief Executive Officer. “A staggering 42 percent of events visitors to Australia are to Victoria, bringing billions of dollars in to the state each year.

“Events are a key strength for us internationally. International attendance at major events varies depending on the event but typically ranges between five percent and 15 percent of all attendees.

International attendees stay longer and spend more than domestic visitors.”

Of course, the other states are not taking Victoria’s assault lying down.

Queensland’s major event is the Gold Coast Indy, the first Champ Car World Series race held in Australia.

Event General Manager Greg Hooton cites a recent impact study which shows that Indy generated an additional $58.3 million on the Gold Coast and $60.1 million to Queensland. The 2005 attendance was the highest in the event’s 15-year history, attracting 316,459 people over the four days.

Visitors from overseas spent just over a week in Queensland, on average, 23 percent longer than other overseas leisure tourists.

racing professionals and punters from around the world.

NSW was thrust into the events limelight by the 2000 Olympics. But observers say it still lags behind Victoria and Queensland in attracting international sporting and cultural meetings.

Today, few people can think about New Year’s Eve without some reference to fireworks and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Katrina Marton, Sydney’s events producer, estimates that one million people went down to the harbour to enjoy Sydney NYE in 2006. “Anecdotally, the number of international visitors would be substantial,” she says. “Virtually all of Sydney’s 19,000 hotel rooms were booked and a good portion of the occupants would be from overseas. Australian TV, radio and press reported overseas visitors, many of whom said they came to enjoy NYE on Sydney Harbour.”

Pyrotechnics pioneer Vince Foti, who was responsible for the last New Year’s Eve spectacular, contrasts the Sydney experience with the tiny Atlantic island of Madeira. Each year, scores of cruise ships arrive in the capital, Funchal, to witness the New Year’s Eve fireworks and Foti, who has worked on the display, says he “could not help noticing the degree of tourism that the event attracted”.

OF COURSE, THE OTHER STATES ARE NOT TAKING VICTORIA’S ASSAULT LYING DOWN “The international market is one which we are endeavouring to grow this year and into the future,” he adds. “We are planning to expand our marketing presence in New Zealand and Asia from this year, and much of that will be done in cooperation with Gold Coast Tourism and Tourism Queensland.”

“We know that the Sydney NYE fireworks are seen the world over; the event is the most talked about event within international pyrotechnic circles and it’s regarded as the Grand Prix of fireworks events,” he says. “More should be done in terms of tourism promotion to take advantage of this world-renowned event.”

Indy is augmented on the Gold Coast calendar by a racing carnival of the fourlegged variety, the Magic Millions.

The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has become one of Australia’s most successful festivals. Every year the festival brings thousands of international and interstate visitors to Sydney and contributes more than $46 million to the New South Wales economy, according to organisers.

This 10-day event centres around the region’s leading thoroughbred sales and includes a glamorous race day, attracting

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atx: feature weeks prior to the event with more than 8,000 competitors and many thousands of spectators,” he explains.

Denton says many of the participants and sports lovers stay an average of two weeks in the area, providing a big boost for the local community.

Tourism Australia is bombarded with requests for event support, and Marketing Director Ian Macfarlane says his decisions are based on whether events will generate incremental visitors and on their capacity to get exposure to their target audience.

Some cornerstone Australian events clearly do both, but are so entrenched in their target markets that agencies like Tourism Australia would struggle to bring additional clout.

The festival kicks off with the Mardi Gras Parade, watched by an estimated 300,000 people along iconic Oxford Street.

However, even this high-profile event is under-promoted and fails to deliver its full potential, according to tourism operators.

The NSW Major Events Board does, however, have some significant achievements to its name, including the Rugby World Cup in 2003, the 2005 Football World Cup playoff against Uruguay in 2005, the F1-rivalling A1 Grand Prix in 2005 and 2007 and a number of Socceroos internationals scheduled until 2009.

Observers point out that whatever shortfall NSW may show in the major events arena is more than compensated by its achievements in business events and incentives. For example, the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau recently announced the city’s selection to host the 16th International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in 2012, an event worth $18 million to the local economy. The five-day gathering is expected to attract up to 4,000 world experts on artery diseases.

Events impact There is little firm data about international event attendees and their spending habits, with Tourism Research Australia unable to produce findings with any degree of confidence because of small samples.

Nonetheless, for tourism operators like hotel group Marriott, there’s little doubt that events mean business.

“Major international events have significant impact on occupancies across all our

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hotels”, says Raj Menon, General Manager, Marriott Australia. “Almost 50 percent of Marriott hotels’ occupancy is driven through international business. Every major event has significant impact.

“The Melbourne Marriott Hotel ran at 87 percent occupancy in 2006 - clearly benefiting from all the major events hosted in the city of Melbourne,” he says.

According to Peter Hook, General Manager, Communications, for Australia’s largest hotel group, Accor, cooperation with event organisers is essential. “In most cases, we will package up accommodation and tickets and help the organiser actively promote the event,” he says. “The most important aspect of this is to provide early notice of the event so that we can balance the needs of our corporate travellers – who need to be guaranteed rooms – and oneoff international travellers who are coming specifically for the event.”

The federal agency seems far more active in seeking to leverage one-off events like the recent Ashes tour. Macfarlane says these events are ideal for Tourism Australia intervention because they attract easily identifiable audiences and it’s able to establish dialogue with prospects long before the tour begins, through channels like supporters clubs.

He stresses, however, that Tourism Australia “is not in the subsidy game and is not in the bidding game”.

Queensland Events, which is in the subsidy game and the bidding game, is very strategic in its approach to event support.

“Our support for events is based on how each event fits in with our overall investment strategy for Queensland,” says Denton. “If Queensland Events gets involved in an event, we want it to grow

It’s clear that state governments are doing much of the heavy lifting when it comes to event marketing and support.

Michael Denton, Chief Executive of the pioneering state events body, Queensland Events, says his organisation is “committed to maximising the benefits from each event”.

Denton cites the Noosa Triathlon Multi Sport Festival as another Queensland success story. Beginning with just 183 competitors in its inaugural year in 1983, the event has blossomed, “now almost single-handedly responsible for the entire Noosa region being booked solid in the

and we include performance indicators in our contracts with major event organisers.

We need to make sure new events are viable, financially sound and, most importantly, don’t detract from our current portfolio.”

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Collaboration with the supply chain is essential, according to Alastair Blount, a Tasmanian-based tourism marketing expert who was involved in marketing one of the region’s most successful major events, the Hong Kong Sevens.

What made the Sevens a success, according to the former Cathay Marketing Manager, was the strong partnership with a marketing-orientated tourism bureau, a marketing-orientated airline, reliable tour operators and wholesalers with ‘clout’ in the event city, an exciting PR plan targeted at individual countries and a committed sports body in the event city.

Macfarlane, like many tourism analysts, is disappointed that local operators don’t do more to take advantage of the opportunities arising from events. He says Tourism Australia and the state tourism bodies do a thorough job of informing the local market, but some operators don’t take any notice.

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“Australia is blessed with some fantastic events which are well promoted. People are coming and the market appears to be there, but the question is: are we (making the most of ) them when they’re here?”

He cites anecdotal evidence during the recent Ashes tour. After attending a match in Adelaide, Macfarlane noticed a couple of pubs running promotions just outside the stadium as tens of thousands of spectators poured out. “It struck me that there was a huge audience spewing out onto two streets, presenting a fantastic opportunity for promotion, and only two operators took advantage of it,” he laments.

Macfarlane says there’s no doubt that events are delivering audiences, but he’s not sure operators are making the most of the opportunities.

There’s little excuse for tourism operators not to capitalise on events, with all state tourism authorities publicising their events calendars on their websites, and Macfarlane says Tourism Australia is currently enhancing the Australia.com website to include even more event resources.

EDITOR’S POSTSCRIPT: At the time of going to print the NSW Government announced the formation of new Major Events Corporation to be headed by Tourism Australia board member and former Australian Rugby Union boss, John O’Neill. A media statement said: “The Corporation will be tasked with the job of attracting more major events to NSW and to enhance existing regular special events.” The new entity will be based on the successful Victorian and Queensland models will amalgamate the Major Events Board, parts of the Office for Special Events and the International Sporting Events program. O’Neill has also been tasked with conducting a review of tourism in NSW. No additional funding has been allocated to the initiative.

pioneering a new spirit in luxury touring across Australia Call us anytime 24/7 to find out more. Its all a part of the service.

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ANDERS LINDSTRÖM IS ON THE QUEST FOR THE PINK DOLLAR. What would be the dream market for a travel company? One made up of consumers who take up to three holidays a year, mostly internationally; are 10 times more likely to take a cruise; keen to try new destinations ahead of trends; are extremely brand loyal and are resilient to economic downturns or recessions?

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Sounds like sheer dreaming? It is reality though if you tap into a small, but relatively ignored market: gay and lesbian travellers.

Compared to many western markets, Australia has fallen behind in attracting the DINKs (double income, no kids). They have more money to spend on travel, more time and do not restrict themselves to peak seasons.

According to Wendy Hills, Manager of Tourism Australia’s Australian Experiences, the gay market is not targeted specifically overseas, unlike many other tourist boards. Instead, the niche market falls under “experience seekers” along with backpackers and seniors. There is also no research into gay arrivals into Australia or an estimation of how much spending gay and lesbian travellers add to the Australian economy. Tracking such information is

difficult as it can become skewed or offend people, she says.

The US is by far the world’s strongest and most advanced gay travel market. An estimated US$65 billion (AUD$83 billion) is spent annually by American gay and lesbian travellers, and that is calculated on a conservative five percent gay population rather than the more standard 10 percent.

In Australia, only one research study into gay travellers has been conducted, which was during the 2002 Sydney Gay Games.

The results were minimal and can no longer be found by either Tourism Australia or Tourism Research Australia. The latter says the research was “not that meaningful or reliable”.

Rita Harding, Tourism Northern Territory’s General Manager Marketing

atx: somewhereovertherainbow Communications, says third party research estimates eight to 10 percent of the destination’s arrivals to be gay. “What we know is that gay and lesbian travellers are more inclined to travel frequently, have a higher disposable income, are inquisitive about the next best thing and they have a very strong word of mouth,” she says.

According to GALTA, (Gay and Lesbian Tourism Australia), Tourism NT has set the bar high for the rest of Australia’s state tourism bodies. The territory was the first Australian destination to market itself

guys into a double bed, but I don’t think the gay market realises how friendly a small town can be. “ The message of being treated the same, despite having different needs, can be quite confusing for those who are unfamiliar with the gay market.

But to become ‘gay friendly’ is easier than most think and the rewards much greater. GALTA, which promotes Australian gay friendly business both domestically and overseas, receives roughly 200,000 hits a month on its website and the GALTA directory has a circulation of 20,000, of which 5,000 are from overseas.

“It is not a strange market sector, you do not need to do things that radically differently.” towards gay travellers back in 1994. “There was a negative response at that time, which was pretty standard. People associated it with a nightclub vibe during the day. These days, we don’t necessarily see the gay and lesbian market as a highly distinctive separate market that has to be treated differently.”

“Traditionally straight hotels are now approaching us and wanting to learn more about the gay market,” says GALTA’s Managing Director Jeff Aquilina. We educate how to accommodate gay travellers, and that it is all about equality - treat them as you would treat anyone else.”

In 2004 and 2005, Tourism NT carried out “Understanding the Gay and Lesbian Market” workshops, which Harding says were a great success.

“They were about ‘demystifying’ the market and presenting the opportunities, and also explaining what were some of the things you need to be mindful of. It is not a strange market sector, you do not need to do things that radically differently.”

But if they want to be treated similarly to a straight traveller, is there really a point to be gay friendly?

“There is a code of conduct that all members have to accept,” says Aquilina. “It’s not just fill in an application, pay and you’re a member. It goes to the board, which looks at their location and we usually know what goes on around the traps and behind the scenes.”

“The perception 15 years ago that a gay resort was fairly sleazy has completely changed now,” says Ross Palm, General Manager of Turtle Cove, a gay friendly resort in Tropical North Queensland. Despite a 99 percent gay clientele (of which about 35 percent is Australian), it does not claim to be gay exclusive. The resort was voted the world’s best gay resort by US gay travel magazine Out Traveler in 2005.

Not so successful was another gay Queensland property, the Liberty Resort in Kuranda. “I’ve never stayed anywhere else that was that good,” says Andrew Creagh, editor of Australia’s leading gay magazine, DNA. “But they didn’t have any word of mouth.”

DNA has significantly increased its travel content in the last year, and now has two annual travel specials (January and June) and is attracting more mainstream advertising.

“For a lot of gay men, travel is an important of part of their disposable income. In terms of the economic downturn in the airline/tourism sector and the war on terror, I don’t think that has stopped the gay public from travelling for one second. The gay market is recession proof,” he says.

Creagh also reckons the demand to stay in gay exclusive resorts has changed dramatically as people now prefer to stay in the place most suitable to them. “Most tourism in Australia is very gay friendly,” he says. “They don’t have a problem booking two

Is the gay market then worth spending any money on, even if you are down as being gay friendly?

Take Philadelphia in the US for instance, the first destination to commission a research study aimed at a specific destination to learn about gay travel and one of the first US cities to target gay travellers.

According to statistics, the city has seen a return of US$153 in spending for every dollar it has invested in gay marketing.

Despite its success amongst gay travellers, Philadelphia is not listed amongst the seven most visited gay and lesbian destinations, according to Community Marketing Inc. For the top seven international destinations, Australia was nowhere to be found. The list instead included, in order, Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

Australia as a tourist destination has for years benefited from Sydney’s gay friendly position. The city ranks second after San Francisco as the world’s largest gay hub and the annual Mardi Gras Festival brings in over $100 million to New South Wales alone.

GAY & LESBIAN TRAVEL TRENDS (US-based statistics)

• Gay and lesbian travellers took a median of five overnight trips in the last 12 months, comprising two leisure, two personal and one business trip.

• 76 percent of respondents said that they were more likely to choose to travel to destinations that are known for being gayfriendly.

• 40 percent indicated they will increase spending on leisure travel, versus only 11 percent who expect to reduce spending.

• 92 percent of lesbians and gay men purchased an airline ticket on the internet last year.

• 44 percent said that having internet service available was important to their choice of a hotel. It was their number one motivator.

• 97 percent of gays and lesbians took vacations in the past 12 months.

The US national average is 64 percent.

• Respondents who travelled last year spent an average of 29 nights away from home (average six nights per trip) Source: Community Marketing Inc.

In addition to his role with GALTA, Aquilina is the General Manager of the Coral Sea Resort in Airlie Beach, which is regularly marketing itself as gay friendly. atx:magazine:issuefour

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atx: feature “About five percent of our guests are gay and lesbian, and we have never had a complaint from any other guests that there might be two guys together by the pool or two women eating together in the restaurant.” Of the resort’s 50 staff, about 10 percent are gay.

The travel industry has in many countries led the way in terms of advertising and marketing itself to the gay market. In Australia, both Qantas and Virgin Blue have had specific gay advertising, although it has mainly been limited to Mardi Gras.

When it first tried to capture the gay market, Qantas failed miserably so to better understand and reach the gay market, it contracted Significant Others, a marketing company specialising in targeting the gay market. Strategies changed and Qantas became official sponsor of the Sydney Mardi Gras and also of the Sydney Gay Games in 2002. Both in Europe and the US, airlines in particular have large marketing campaigns targeting the gay markets.

“Australian airlines have had a limited idea of how much they should spend on this market, not realising that gays fly exponentially more than the straight market. Australian airlines are not getting it,” Aquilina says, noting, however, that Virgin has had some successful campaigns. “People think of Qantas as the gay airline, but it’s not that supportive.”

One airline that wants to understand the gay market is SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Despite being an offline airline, SAS is the national carrier of three of the world’s most liberal countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), and the airline wanted to understand the Australian gay travel market and how to capture it. Back in 2004, it conducted one of the few Australian studies into gay travel behaviour in Australia. The gay market was one of four markets researched, along with incentive travel, cruise and technical visits.

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The report acknowledged that SAS had then fallen behind other competing airlines in appealing to the gay market. One issue was that SAS was not a member of IGLTA, the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association.

As for what a gay traveller wants, it was not all about nightclubs as most would have expected.

Instead gay and lesbians wanted to be enthused and stimulated within areas of fashion, art, cultural events, interior design, food and architecture.

The gay market is distinctively known for demanding higher quality, but is also ready to pay for it.

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ATEC SYMPOSIUM – 30 YEARS ON Kerri Anderson speaks to some ATEC old timers Denise Scrafton has been to every ATEC Symposium – all 29 of them. And she’ll be going to this year’s 30th anniversary event in The Tweed in April as well. After that many, the General Manager of Mainstay Hotels, Australia, could be excused for not remembering the details of each and every one. She is, however, clear on how much the event – and ATEC – has changed in the past three decades.

“You used to go to a Symposium and there would be maybe 60 or 70 people there and even at that point they were mostly people who had been in the industry for a lot of years. Back then I was a new kid coming in,” Scrafton recalls.

Now, instead of 60 delegates, the ATEC Symposium – Australia’s largest travel trade conference – attracts 600. The four-day program features a unique mix of business-to-business workshops between tourism product suppliers and inbound tour operators, conference plenary and breakout sessions, and a series of miniconferences on specialist markets.

“We have seen Symposium take on all the

major issues as the industry has taken them on,” Scrafton says.

“For example, there has been a big change in offshore issues and government lobbying.

“ATEC has got to be one of the most relevant associations today and while I think there was a stage about three years ago where the organisation started to move away from its grass roots, I think now it’s come back.”

That said, Scrafton believes the shift needed to happen in order to make government take more notice of the industry’s importance.

“Once the White Paper was put in place and we got government and ministers onside, we came back to the grass roots,” she says.

Another industry stalwart who has been to more Symposiums than he has fingers and toes is Bob Wicks. With more than 35 years in the industry working for a range of companies from Ansett Pioneer to APT, Wicks has seen ITOA (which was founded in 1972 and then changed to ATEC in 2000) and ATEC evolve.

“I was at the first ITOA meeting at the Sydney Hilton – I think there were around eight of us there,” Wicks remembers.

“Those days you did everything by phone, mail or personal visits. Now of course ATEC has branches and people do everything by computer and email.

“This industry is all about relationship building and while the growth will always

be there, I think we have along way to go – we just have to make ourselves a little bit smarter.

“Symposium is a great networking event where meeting the other side of the business is important. ATEC always has to stay in an area where it can assist the industry – education-wise and politically.

It’s incredibly important.”

ATEC Managing Director, Matthew Hingerty, says the challenge 30 years on is to continue to keep Symposium relevant, fresh and innovative.

“We need to find the balance between providing information to interest the veterans with 10, 20 or now 30 Symposiums under their belts interested, and also to provide basic information for the new-up-and comers,” Hingerty says.

“Each year it’s a challenge but we can never stop looking for ways to freshen the format.

Last year for example we introduced the first series of half-day mini conferences within the conference – an initiative that was very popular and is being repeated in 2007.

“In fact, the backpacker session was so popular we’re extending it to a full day this year.

“In 2007 for the first time we are taking Symposium to an emerging international destination where the sessions will be held in several different locations.

“There will be a lot of logistical tests in moving 600 plus people around, but it will also give delegates a real opportunity to see the region. We can’t wait!”

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RON MURRAY - THE ROAD TO SUCCESS Hitting the road, Anders Lindström follows how Ron Murray has gone from being a retail travel agent to become Australia’s most important transport leader, racking up the awards along his journey.

Ron Murray comes from a family of travel industry players. His father had a small bus company and his great uncle was involved with Hotel Kosciusko back in 1910, providing horses and acting as a guide for the first tourists. It was therefore no surprise when Murray himself followed in their footsteps, even though he studied engineering and accounting.

At 19, Murray entered the travel industry and some 40 plus years later, his business is stronger than he could have ever

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envisaged. Starting off with his own retail travel agency, Murray went on to build a true Australian coach empire.

In 1970 he bought his father’s school bus business and turned it into a coach touring operation. Murray realised early on the importance of the strong Japanese and other overseas markets, which has also provided him with the greatest satisfaction.

“Quite frankly, I’m a proud Aussie, and we’ve got the best country in the world, so, showing off my country makes me feel proud and it has given me a great deal of enjoyment,” he says.

Over the years his business model has changed significantly as it has also had to adapt to industry trends and overall demands. “The coach industry totally changes every five years,” Murray says.

“Long distance touring has disappeared as a result of the affordability of flying between capital cities – that is just pure economics. Now corporate and sporting

business is the majority of what we do, with tourism operations less than 50 percent. Long distance tours may return, but I’m not holding my breath for it.”

The Murrays retail travel agency arm ceased operating in the early 1980s, and in the late 1980s, strong demand led to establishing businesses in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns, moving beyond his much beloved Canberra.

Like any pioneer, Ron Murray likes to work hard. And he vows to never retire.

“I feel as enthusiastic now as I did when I started Murrays Travel in 1966. I will always work seven days a week, but not 12 hour days. Over the next few years, I would like to start to scale down my work load, but retirement, never,” he says. Not too surprisingly, he doesn’t take many holidays either, and when he does, it is short breaks, most often visiting coach construction or transport development sites.

atx: ronmurray “Long distance touring has disappeared as a result of the affordability to fly between capital cities – that is just pure economics. Long distance tours may return, but I’m not holding my breath for it.”

But his hard work has paid off.

Murray Travels is much more than just one entity, with several subsidiaries and responsibility for 2,500 transport movements and 400 staff. One would therefore imagine that every time Ron Murray sees a Murrays coach he would smile to himself with delight, but no. “I’m told men can really only do one thing at a time, so I normally look to see if it’s clean, rather than focusing on anything else. I also check that the driver is well presented.”

the bottom line is that the latest recognition is always the most important because you can’t live in the past.”

His most recent recognition is luckily one of the most prestigious, as he was inducted as an ATEC Honorary Life Member.

“It’s quite humbling. The industry is so young. When I started my agency, there was no such thing as a Department of Tourism, or Minister of Tourism, no national industry.

Murray’s participation in the travel industry has been well recognised with numerous awards, for both the company and Murray himself. “It is always great to receive recognition, especially from your peers. However,

COACH SIZ

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“To see it grow to where it is now, I’m quite honour to be part of that team.”

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I like coach travel…because it is a safe, efficient and cost-effective means of transporting tourists.

If I hadn’t set up Murrays Travel I…may have

become a boring public servant wearing a brown cardigan.

My 40 years in the travel industry have…been enjoyable, exciting and challenging.

Australian roads…are great considering the size of our country and small population.

I always say… our priority is to win new customers

because of the standard of service we offer rather than having to buy business.

The best thing about travel… is that all tourists require transport by coach, bus or limousine.

My dream has always been… to eliminate all

state and territory governments and expand local government into regional governments.

If I could change one thing about the Australian travel industry… I would have federal, state, territory

and local governments combined under one tourism body promoting Australia as a single destination made up by a number of regions, not states.

Awards are…only achieved by the support of family, staff and industry colleagues.

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What happens on tour... atx: d

atx: would like to thank our contributing photographers including Zahrina Snell, ATEC’s event photographer. To view ATEC event photos, visit www.zahrina.com

If you have photos from when you were “on tour”, atx: would love to publish them.

Please email high res images with captions to: editor@atxmag.com.au

Irene Williams

from GTA and biker

LBM GROUP AT EVENING EVENT From left: David Armour, Irene Williams, Glenn Sweet, Kerry Fryer, Andrew Cox, Allen Brooker

LBM POOL AND PARTY

Leon Ellas & Toufic Lawand Evening function at Lillianfels

Tropical North Queensland ATEC SYDNEY SHOWCASE

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BASIL ATKINSON: PIONEER OF TOURISM In our last issue we told the remarkable story of Charles Holmes, whose foresight and determination led to Australia setting up tourism promotional offices overseas in the decade before the outbreak of the Second World War. Here John I. Richardson tells of the contribution of Basil Atkinson, who inherited Holmes’ mantle and whose story is no less remarkable.

Atkinson was the executive head of Australia’s national tourism organisation for no fewer than 18 years, and was in the forefront of its transformation from an industry body to a Commonwealth Government authority. During that time and afterwards he played a role on the world stage of tourism at a level achieved neither before nor since by an Australian.

Atkinson was from Perth, a journalist on the The West Australian, when he first became interested in tourism. He had been a RAAF pilot during the war operating from bases in Britain and in 1954 he was back in London on a twoyear scholarship given by the British newspaper magnate Lord Kemsley.

Atkinson had already made a name for himself as an aviation and shipping writer and the scholarship would have seemed a prelude to a rapid rise in the newspaper business. Instead the London experience kindled a passion for tourism

in him. He became impressed by what the British Travel and Holidays Association (predecessor of the British Tourist Authority) was doing to develop tourism to help the country’s post-war economy.

He spent weeks at its head office in London studying its work before returning to Australia asking: ‘What are we doing to develop tourism and to gain foreign income and jobs?’ At this time Charles Holmes was in Melbourne still trying to restore the Australian National Travel Association to its pre-war eminence as the national tourism body. He heard Atkinson’s question and encouraged him to apply for the post of manager in North America, based in San Francisco.

Atkinson was given the job against stiff opposition, but he was in it only six months when Holmes decided to retire and the ANTA board recalled Atkinson to take his place. This was in 1957. The next ten years saw ANTA increase its industry membership and gain the financial help of both the Commonwealth Government and the states. Other offices were established overseas – in London, New York and Auckland. However, this was not enough: Atkinson and the other ANTA leaders believed their organisation needed to be part of government for financial stability.

They proposed that a statutory authority with an independent board be set up and in 1967 they got their wish: the Commonwealth Government established the Australian Tourist Commission, forerunner of today’s Tourism Australia.

Atkinson became its first general manager and was to stay in the post until 1974.

By this time he had long been a world tourism leader. In 1963-65 he was president of the International Union of Official Travel Organisations, now known

as the World Tourism Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Today, at the age of 82, he is the most senior member of its Council of Honour.

He was also prominent in the Pacific Asia Travel Association, being president-elect and vice-president in 1973-74 and a member of its executive committee for 12 years.

When he left the ATC he became directorgeneral of tourism for the Bahamas for two years.

His other tourism posts have included: • Deputy-leader of the Australian delegation to the first United Nations Conference on Travel and Tourism in Rome in 1963.

• Board member, Caribbean Travel Association 1974-75.

• Tourism advisor to the United Nations Development Program and the World Tourism Organisation 1980-83.

• Acting Chairman, Western Australian Tourism Commission (1985-86) and Deputy Chairman (1984-87).

• Responsible for UNDP/WTO marketing, research and development programs in 14 island countries of the South Pacific 1988-90.

• Member of PATA missions to the Solomon Islands in 1985 and Cocos and Christmas islands in 1991.

Atkinson was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1995. He had previously been made a commander of the Royal Order of Phoenix by the Greek Government (in 1966). The Official Gazette du Tourism in Paris named him ‘International Man of the Year in Tourism’ for 1973.

atx:magazine:issuefour

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atx: advertisingdirectory inPlace Recruitment With 25 years experience recruiting for the Travel and Tourism Industry, 1000s of contacts and strong belief in our company philosophy “People.

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Big Blue Air Touring For a unique and personal experience – dining under the stars on a million acre cattle station, mixing with the locals at an outback pub, stunning majestic scenery and more…

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Blazing Saddles Adventures

Captain Cook Cruises

Cairns foremost Horse Riding and ATV adventure tours specialist.

Choose from morning and afternoon half day tours on a working Cattle Farm.

With 35 years experience, Captain Cook Cruises are the best way to see Sydney – day & night.

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Direct Air Tours

CountryLink trains and coaches – take the scenic route.

DirectAir tours specialise in offering quality all inclusive air and ground tours so you can experience Australia’s famous icons by air.

Level 3, 18 Lee Street, Chippendale NSW 2008 sales@countrylink.nsw.gov.au www.countrylink.info Tel: +61 2 8202 3287 Fax: +61 2 8202 3293

Main Terminal Building, Essendon Airport VIC 3041 enquiry@directair.com.au www.directairtours.com Tel: +61 3 9379 6099 Fax:+61 3 9379 2654

Are you attending ATE 2007 Brisbane?

Diva flowers will create a stunning & innovative flower arrangement or display to compliment your ATE 2007 booth.

Free delivery for all ATEC members Diva flowers is a proud member of the Brisbane Convention Bureau divaflowers@bigpond.com www.diva-flowers.com.au tel: free from anywhere - 1800 300 597 fax: (07) 3369 4257 154 Musgrave Rd Red Hill Qld

The Easystay Group The Easystay Group provides affordable serviced apartment and motel rooms in St Kilda – one of Australia’s most desirable destinations.

St Kilda, Melbourne, VIC stay@easystay.com.au www.easystay.com.au Tel: +61 3 9536 9700 Fax:+61 3 9536 9744

The Best Reservation System Australian Attractions Experience Eco Guiding

Featherdale Wildlife Park

Qualified local guides, explain environmental, cultural and wilderness appreciation. Enjoy gourmet inclusions.

Home to the world’s largest collection of Australian native animals and winner of ‘Major Tourist Attraction’ at the Tourism NSW Awards in 2005.

Wollongong – Blue Mountains tours@ecoguiding.com.au www.ecoguiding.com.au Tel/ Fax: +61 2 4294 9998 Mob: 0409 222 944

217 Kildare Road, Doonside NSW 2767 info_featherdale@rydges.com.au www.featherdale.com.au Tel: +61 2 9622 1644

JMD Ross Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd Talk to the risk and insurance specialists who understand your business and who have been advising the inbound industry for more than 20 years.

1 Chandos Street, St Leonards, Sydney, 2000 tross@jmdross.com.au Tel: +61 2 9906 1199 Fax: +61 2 9906 1007

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Ken Corbett & Louize Godlonton have years of experience to help you sell your product. Contact us if you are looking for more revenue from the inbound market.

Level 1, 299 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 ken@australianattractions.com.au www.australianattractions.com.au Tel: +61 2 8251 0078 Fax: +61 2 8251 0097

Jordons Seafood Restaurant Located Watersedge Darling Harbour is Sydney’s famous seafood restaurant, Jordons.

Jordons is renowned for sumptuous seafood platters and the best chips in town.

197 Harbourside, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW, 2000 admin@jordonsrestaurant.com.au www.jordonsrestaurant.com.au

Jewel Business Solutions Many large and medium Tour Operators are enjoying the focus and technology to enable growth in sales and profits that the Jewel Reservation System enables. sales@jbs.com.au www.jbs.com.au Tel: +61 3 9857 3299

The Kamberra Wine Company The Award Winning Kamberra Wine Company comprises a modern winery, cellar door offering wine tastings and winery tours. kamberra@kamberra.com.au www.kamberra.com.au Tel: +61 2 6262 2333 Fax: +61 2 6262 2300

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Kuranda Trading Post The Kuranda Trading Post is a modern tourist complex comprising a licenced 300 seat Restaurant, 150 seat Internet CafĂŠ, Souvenir Shop and Foreign Currency Exchange.

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Lets Go Surfing Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest surf school on Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest beach! What better place to learn to surf than on world-famous Bondi Beach?

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Melbourne River Cruises

Livingston Tourism Marketing

Make the most of your opportunity to see Melbourne from a unique river percpective

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Lower Promenade Southgate (Blue Ticket Kiosk) Melbourne VIC 3000 info@melbcruises.com.au www.melbcruises.com.au

Tel: +61 7 4031 6447 Fax: +61 7 4041 6224

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Peppers Seaport Hotel, Launceston Peppers Seaport Hotel is superbly located right on the Tamar riverfront, just 5 minutes from Launceston CBD.

Phantom Charters

Puffing Billy Steam Railway

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atx: usefulstuff

Risky Business

Kerri Anderson looks at coping in crisis How well would your business cope if it was suddenly faced with a crisis that does, or could, damage your operations, cash-flow or reputation? Talk to almost any medium to large organisation and you will find that they have a plan in place – under a myriad of names such as risk management, crisis management or disaster management. But scarily few small businesses have the same. Once the proverbial hits, it is too late to start thinking about crisis planning.

How you manage and invest in your brand in good times can help you store up “brand reserve” for the bad times. And how prepared you are for the bad times can often make the difference as to whether and how well your business survives a crisis.

Phil Hunt, National Sales Leader for international risk management consultants Marsh, says that over the past five years risk and risk management has shifted from a “sleep easy” issue to a real business imperative.

The important thing according to Director of Marketing Megan Bell, is that the company’s response plan is a team effort.

“The plan is updated each year and everyone has a role to play and they know what their role is,” Bell says.

“This includes everything from transport interruptions if a coach or boat breaks down to reservations staff informing passengers of cancellations, or who can talk to the media in times of crisis to make sure a consistent message is delivered.

“Quicksilver has a huge brand risk as our name is synonymous with the Great Barrier Reef and we need to protect it.”

Bell says for smaller organisations a risk management plan need not be a complex document.

“It can be a one pager with a few dot points listing the risks your business faces, what you can do to mitigate them and where any possible opportunities might be.”

“Around 70 percent of businesses that have a severe interruption to their business don’t recover,” he says.

“It’s up to the resources and willingness of the organisation to deal with these things and it would be time very well spent to be prepared.”

So what type of issues should be looked at when developing a risk management plan?

Great Barrier Reef operator The Quicksilver Group, for example, has a thorough strategy covering everything from cyclone contingencies to operational, staff, sales and marketing, environmental and communications issues.

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Hunt agrees. “It might even be as simple as a communications plan so in a crisis you can make contact with a range of people for many important reasons, such as employees and their families, customers, suppliers, IT providers, emergency services, insurance providers or tourism bodies,” he says.

So what determines a crisis and what areas should you consider when developing a risk management strategy?

A crisis can be defined as any incident – either real or perceived – that has the potential to affect your business or your business’ reputation. This includes: • A fatality or serious injury as a result of operations • An event with significant impact on business operations and continuity • Negative attention by media and financial institutions • The threat or initiation of litigation • Adverse impact on brand image or corporate reputation • Loss of market share When developing a risk management strategy appoint a crisis management team (usually key management and a public relations person if you have one) to develop: • Working methods and response and recovery actions • Group and individual responsibilities • Processes for notification, mobilisation, escalation and de-escalation • Mutual aid arrangements • Operational and strategic issues and implications to be considered • Processes and actions to ensure effective communications with government, regulators, partners, customers, staff, corporate and general community, board etc • Specific approaches to dealing with the media • Specific approaches to and considerations for dealing with trauma counselling • Data collection Once things have returned to normal, it is also important to conduct a post-crisis evaluation looking at what you did well and what you could have done better, and to update your plan accordingly.

There are a number of consultants such as Marsh which can assist with preparing a tailored crisis management plan for your business, or you can do it yourself. Either way, having a plan for what to do when the proverbial hits (and one day it will) could mean the difference between whether your business is a survivor or a statistic.