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 »

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.

At the end of February the Bligh Government introduced compulsory “Tag-along” tours for backpackers visiting Fraser Island; these changes to take effect June 30th 2010. This amendment however took place only a month after already advising hostels in the Rainbow Beach/Hervey Bay region that they would be able to continue their current operations with some slight amendments including reducing numbers (to 8 passengers) and no luggage on the roof.

Although the government website boasts that the move follows “lengthy consultation” with industry and has “broad industry support”, once again a government department has shown a complete lack of understanding of the lead times required by tourism businesses to implement major changes. Although it is true that hostel operators want greater safety, and do support the broader regulations, many leading operators such as Frasers on Rainbow Beach market their product interstate and overseas and set pricing a minimum of 12 months in advance. We simply cannot change our rates with four months notice.

I have calculated that in my business alone in Rainbow Beach these changes will cost me in the vicinity of $180,000 in lost revenue in the 2010 year, and estimate the industry as a whole may lose millions.

So what is the mid to long term benefit of these changes? In addition to increased safety I am hoping that the short term loss in revenue will lead to a more viable industry in the long term. From my experience however, the east coast backpacker market has demonstrated a poor record of setting realistic prices for their services. There is no doubt that these government regulations will eliminate those operators that are not willing or able to invest in their businesses and set their prices accordingly.

My HOPE is that hostels will now price their products at a viable level that allows them to re-invest into a quality operation. The current package pricing in the region foolishly encourages visitors to stay only 2 nights (1 pre night & 1 post) in their hostels and has nett rates set so low that nobody can legitimately claim good profit margins.

It is now time that the industry set some realistic commissions, whilst still allowing for wholesale vs retail sales. We need to encourage people to stay on the Fraser Coast and not just the island.

Frasers on Rainbow Beach will shortly release new packages incorporating other highlights of the region, including kayaking with dolphins, hand-feeding wild dolphins, and skydiving, in addition to the traditional Fraser/Whitsunday packages.

By Alice Terlikowski · March 8th, 2010 at 11:29 am