thUMBRELLA

Opinion

• Cairns makes the most of Sydney’s woes

  Last week, I spent a fair bit of time on damage limitation after a tip-off from Rick Schindler (the real one) that the Daily Telegraph was about to publish a knocking story alleging backpackers were fouling Sydney pavements while trying to sell their vehicles on the streets.   Read more »

• Will new Fraser Island legislation make for a more viable industry?

  Director of Frasers on Rainbow hostel and 4WD Greg Zammit discusses the effects the new Fraser Island 4WD legislation will have on the industry. Read more »

• Admit it: 2009 was a year to forget

  Speaking to operators during Melbourne Expo last weekend, it struck me that things must be getting better – because people were finally prepared to admit how bad the back end of 2009 was.   Read more »

• Time to get in the face(book) of independent travellers

  News that a survey of UK Facebook users has found most prefer to book travel online is the least surprising thing I’ve heard since I was told I had passed my Australian citizenship test with a score of 100 per cent.   Read more »

• Exhibit A: Proof that backpacking has a public relations problem

  My good friend Peter McMahon sent me an interesting link this week.   Read more »

• Backpacking and English language schools – a match made in heaven or hell?

  News that all GEOS English language schools in Australia have closed with debts in excess of A$10 million comes at an unfortunate time for backpacking, which has recently started cosying up to an industry which brought 160,000 young people to Australia in 2008.   Read more »

• Beware a hungry media pack on the scent of a good story

  If proof were needed that backpacker vehicle rental companies are now well and truly in the spotlight, look no further than yesterday’s Northern Territory News, which carries a story about two travellers left stranded in the Outback when their Backpacker Campervan broke down, allegedly due to poor maintenance.   Read more »

• Wicked Campers’ problems could be the start of a crackdown on backpacker car rental companies nationwide

  Wicked Campers is back in the news after claims in the national media that the majority of its Queensland fleet has been withdrawn over safety concerns. Wicked owner John Webb has refuted the claims, stating only around 50 of the company’s Queensland-registered vehicles have been voluntarily removed from service with 611 still on the road.   Read more »

• New year’s resolutions for 2010

  As new year is the time for resolutions, I thought I’d take the liberty of making a few on behalf of the industry. Unlike my own (to stop swearing), I’m hoping the following will last beyond the first week back at work.   Read more »

• Don’t let a good story get in the way of the facts

  We’ve been copping a bit of flak this week for our alleged negativity in reporting the deaths of four young travellers in Australia and the headline on our story about the latest International Visitor Survey, which focused on the decline in backpacker numbers rather than the increase in spend and length of stay.   Read more »

• King’s Cross Car Market remembered…

  The world famous King’s Cross Car Market that operated since 1991 from the King’s Cross Car park is sadly no longer. The old car market was an institution, a place where backpackers would arrive with the most amazing array of Aussie automotive buckets you were ever likely to see in one place. Good cars, cheap cars, outrageously over-priced cars, cars full of camping gear and outdoor gadgetry, cars on their last legs, cars that entered and never left, vans, bloody Kombi Vans, 4×4’s, and lots of Ford Falcon Stationwagons.

  Peter Burke, Travellers Auto Barn. Read more >>

• Losing $62 million in revenue could be considered careless

  Okay, it’s been a tough year, but it could have been worse. Imagine if you ran a business where the average yield was up 12 per cent to $6171, but the number of customers you’d welcomed through your doors had fallen by 10,000. Imagine seeing nearly $62 million in potential revenue go up in smoke. Read more »