Opinion
- Asia snaps up ‘emotion’ share from Aussie holiday destinations
  
  In this guest posting, TNS Director, Travel & Leisure, Carolyn Childs explains how Asia is attracting Australia’s domestic travellers.
  
  For years, many Australian travellers have viewed Asia as predominantly a ‘fly and flop’ destination, but no more. The region is sneaking up on the heels of Australian destinations targeting domestic travellers, with value-based offerings around sightseeing, adventure and immersive or transformational experiences. Read more »
- 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 >>

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.

The facts of the case are still emerging, but there’s a sense in which Wicked has become a victim of its own success, its brilliant marketing winning it the attention of the mainstream media and, with it, the inevitable scrutiny of the transport authorities.

The latest allegations follow an expose by Channel Nine’s A Current Affair in October slamming the company’s safety record and a state-wide audit following random compliance checks on Wicked vehicles in Cairns.

All the more reason for the company to make certain its vehicles meet the required safety standards – a fact it seems to have grasped with the announcement that it will be introducing 500 upgraded vehicles over the next year to phase out all pre-2004 campervans.

The wider question is what this means for the rest of the industry – and the rest of the country. Wicked is in the news again this week, and is apparently taking steps to address the concerns of the transport authorities in Queensland.

But will other states now follow suit? Or will the authorities turn their attention to other campervan suppliers in the backpacking sector? And what will they find if they do?

No doubt Wicked’s competitors will be rubbing their hands with glee at the company’s latest difficulties, but they might find themselves under the spotlight sooner rather than later.

As for Wicked, John Webb has a habit of turning bad publicity to his advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised if he looks upon the weekend’s coverage as an opportunity to do the same again.

By Martin Lane · January 11th, 2010 at 11:34 am