Opinion
- 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 »
- 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 »

Don’t be mistaken over identity

Backpacker hostels routinely scan ‘proof of identity’ documents to verify the identity of payers who use credit cards.Common proof of identity documents are passports, driver’s licences, or any government-issued cards which contain a photograph and signature.
While the Privacy Commissioner suggests that businesses might make do with simply sighting the documents, you are best advised to keep a record by taking a photocopy or scanning the
document directly into your computer if a credit card payment is involved. This can then be used as evidence if the transaction is later queried.
The Privacy Commissioner is particularly concerned with scanned copies because scanning increases the risk that the personal information collected could be used for improper purposes, such as direct marketing or the creation of customer databases. The data might also be used for identity crime.
All backpacker hostels which collect proof of identity documents in Australia must comply with the National Privacy Principles, which are summarised as:

Tell the customer when the personal information is collected.
Tell them why it is being collected, and only use it for that purpose.
Tell them what will happen to the information collected.
Allow the customer access to the information.
Keep the information secure (and do not disclose it).
Securely destroy the information as soon as it is no longer required.

It is advisable to have a privacy policy in place. Allied with this is the obligation of merchants who store credit card data to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security standard, which is similar to the National Privacy Principles and requires an information security policy to be in place.

For further information visit www.privacy.gov.au/publications/IS20_07_print.html, www.visa-asia.com/secured and http://sdp.mastercardintl.com.

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 · July 9th, 2008 at 1:58 pm