Opinion
- The trip you forgot you took
  
  In this guest posting, TNS Director, Travel & Leisure, Carolyn Childs explains how to make the most of visiting friends and relatives
  
  How to get more Australians travelling at home more often remains a hot topic for the domestic tourism market. It’s a passion of mine and the reason we set up our Domesticate research. In spite of apparently long periods of stasis or decline, we continue to believe passionately in the opportunities in the domestic market. The interesting thing is that some of them are right under our noses. We all know they’re there, but it’s almost as if they’re hidden in plain sight. Read more »
- There’s nothing like inertia in the face of a downturn
  
  Do you remember the big fanfare when Tourism Australia launched its ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ campaign, and invited the nation to share its favourite Australian places and experiences with the world? I’m sure you do, we wrote about it extensively at the time, and TA managing director Andrew McEvoy even wrote a column for Thumbrella urging the backpacking sector to get involved. Read more »
- Here’s how to cash in on the gap year boom
  
  In this guest posting, Gapyear.com founder Tom Griffiths tells you how to cash in on disappointed UK students who miss out on a university place this year.
  
  UK media reports that 200,000 young people will miss out on university places this year may be overhyped – in truth about 100,000 don’t normally get in anyway – but it’s still a shocking statistic. And an opportunity for you guys Down Under to cash in. Read more »
- Lonely Planet – the gift that keeps on giving
  
  There’s nothing my kids hate more than hearing me start a telling off with the phrase “when I was a kid…” It usually follows them taking an ordinary household item – like the family computer – for granted. Read more »
- ATEC could do worse than appoint the next Matt Hingerty to replace the last one
  
  As a long-suffering England soccer fan, I’ve noticed a trend in the way the Football Association appoints the national team manager. That is, it tends to go for the polar opposite of the man who went before. If you don’t believe me, here’s the recent evidence… Read more »
- Another Wicked piece of marketing
  
  I’ve written about this before, but once again I have to confess to a sneaking admiration for the PR and marketing expertise of John Webb and Wicked Campers. Read more »
- Grounds for cautious optimism, but things could get worse before they get better
  
  Just got back from a couple of weeks in London – surely the world’s most depressed capital city at the moment, but more of that later – and everyone I speak to seems to be 20 per cent down. Read more »
- BOA successfully talks up the ‘Gong and south coast
  
  BOA president Katrina Greeves’ wrap-up on last week’s regional meeting in Wollongong.
  
  Over 10 local South Coast tourism operators joined BOA Committee representatives and members at the ‘BOA Talks South Coast’ event in Wollongong last Thursday to engage in lively debate regarding travel and tourism issues affecting the backpacker, student and youth market in the south coast region. Read more »
- What prison taught me about discounting
  
  Founder of Brokepacker.com Kevin Lippy explains there are three types of discounting ahead of the website’s launch tonight.
  
  A prison yard is a tough, volatile, dangerous, cut throat and an extremely unpredictable environment… Kind of like the Australian backpacking industry during low season. Read more »
- How many backpackers does it take to change a lightbulb?
  
  Thumbrella is conducting an exclusive industry survey this week, with just one question. How many of your customers are idiots? Read more »
- How’s business?
  
  So, how’s business? It’s a simple question, but it seems there’s no easy answer. Read more »
- Australian backpacking is the pulse we watch to gauge the health of the industry worldwide
  
  In this guest post, gapyear.com founder Tom Griffiths relects on the recent ATEC Backpacker and Youth Industry Conference and why Australia’s backpacking industry still leads the world.
  
  Like most of the delegates I spoke to, I found the recent ATEC Backpacker and Youth Industry Conference extremely interesting and useful. It’s very easy in these current times to set a safe agenda to cater for an industry licking its wounds, who want to hear good news stories and see rainbows ahead. Read more »

ACCC must see the light

I am intrigued at the reports in Backpacker Trade News that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is warning the backpacking sector it faces an audit next year.Why the backpacking sector?
The examples given of misleading price advertising apply to the whole of the tourism industry.
And what has the ACCC been doing these past few years? The ‘lowest prices guaranteed’ slogan was stopped on January 31 2005, almost four years ago.
The answer is – very little.
Let me explain. In 1999, the ACCC issued a comprehensive guide for the travel industry, which it called ‘Travel and tourism – and the Trade Practices Act’. In August 2006, the ACCC withdrew that guide, stating it was withdrawn for revision. In the same month, the ACCC issued a guide on pricing issues only – ‘Price advertising and the travel industry’, which is current. You can download a copy from www.accc.gov.au.
There has been no sign of the re-appearance of the 1999 guide, given that the Trade Practices Act and the ACCC cover many compliance issues in addition to price advertising.
So what is going on now? The ACCC is issuing letters of warning to backpacker operators and tour operators based upon their ‘internet sweeps’, which have triggered alarms in the ACCC.
But what do the operators have to guide them, other than a price advertising guide for the travel industry which is over two years old? Nothing. The correct response for the operators receiving those letters, and the whole of the backpacking industry, should be to write to the ACCC to say they will gladly comply with whatever guide the ACCC wishes to issue to the industry. However, until a guide is issued, they will try their best but in many ways they are working in the dark.

Australian travel and tourism lawyer Anthony Cordato contributes a regular column to Backpacker Trade News. Got a question for Anthony? E-mail ian@backpackertradenews.com or visit www.tourismlegal.com.au.

By Martin Lane · December 4th, 2008 at 4:53 pm