Opinion
- 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 »
- McEvoy: ‘Put your tourism experiences on the map’
  
  Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy discusses the first stages of the There’s nothing like Australia campaign and urges the industry to get involved. Read more »
- The Cross needs backpackers to thrive
  
  In this guest post, a Kings Cross backpacker operator who wishes to remain anonymous outlines the benefits backpackers bring to the Cross.
  
  Lately there has been a concerted effort to push out the evil doing, backpacking “scum” from Potts Point together with various articles on your website and other media. Read more »
- There’s nothing like Australia’s violence on tourists…at least according to Google
  
  News in Sydney’s media of a young Scottish tourist who had been bashed by a group of youths in Sydney this week got me thinking, is violence in Australia towards foreigners worse than anywhere else or is it just because we’re here that we hear about it? Read more »
- Vote Australia – you know it makes sense
  
  If, as expected, British prime minister Gordon Brown goes to Buckingham Palace later today and asks the Queen to dissolve parliament, there will be a general election in the UK on Thursday May 6. Read more »
- Morrissey was right – life IS very long when you’re lonely…
  
  Last month I faced a classic publishing dilemma. When stories surfaced in the national press that a harvest work contractor in Bundaberg had allegedly sacked backpackers after they asked for water, my colleagues on the Backpacker Tourism Advisory Panel urged me to publish a story in TNT Magazine informing readers of their workplace rights. Read more »

ACCC starts another round of checks

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is performing another round of checks on backpacker advertising in the latest phase of its crackdown on the sector.At last year’s Adventure & Backpacker Industry Conference, ACCC Small Business Manager for NSW Martino Santi warned delegates there would be an audit “in the first half of 2009” to ensure advertising complied with the Trade Practices Act.
And this week, ACCC Assistant Director Shannon Murphy told Backpacker Trade News the initial audit raised a number of concerns, mainly about pricing, which had been raised with transgressors and apparently dealt with.
However, she added while proofs of new adverts had been sent to the ACCC for approval, it would now be checking backpacker advertising to ensure the approved artwork was still being used.
The move comes in the wake of the Clarity in Pricing Bill, which became law in November 2008 and requires travel agents and airlines to include the full price, including all taxes and charges, in their advertising.
Introducing the Bill to the Federal Parliament in September last year, Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen said customers should not be given the impression something is cheaper than it really is and pledged to give them the power “to make the best decisions about what they buy”.
The move was welcomed at the time by backpacker retailers who said it would prevent operators trying to remain competitive by offering low net rates to agents then charging customers more money on arrival.
However, operators argued the onus was on the agent to disclose the full price to the client during the booking process.

What’s your view of the ACCC crackdown? Are operators or agents leading the industry into disrepute? To comment on this story, email alice@backpackertradenews.com

By Martin Lane · March 19th, 2009 at 11:01 am