Opinion
- 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Campers is back in the news after claims in the national media that the majority of its Queensland fleet has been withdrawn over safety concerns.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
- Losing $62 million in revenue could be considered careless
  
  Okay, it’s been a tough year, but it could have been worse. Imagine if you ran a business where the average yield was up 12 per cent to $6171, but the number of customers you’d welcomed through your doors had fallen by 10,000. Imagine seeing nearly $62 million in potential revenue go up in smoke. Read more »
- Act now before tragedy strikes
  
  There’s been a lot of negative publicity recently about safety standards in the backpacking industry. Whether it’s campervan rental companies getting slammed on national television over alleged saftey breaches, or illegal hostels cramming people into overcrowded and potentially hazardous accommodation, it creates the misleading impression of an industry which fails to regulate itself and is prepared to play fast and loose with people’s safety in order to make a quick buck. Read more »
- Second year WHVs: backpackers are only cheating because the system’s flawed
  
  The backpacking industry needs to be very careful how it responds to news that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is cracking down on fraudulent second-year working holiday visa (WHV) applications. Read more »
- YATEC Diary – 6th session
  
  Fantales, Sherbies and Minties added a sweet twist to the Young Australian Tourism Export Council’s National Development Program last week, with participants given a lesson on negotiation and networking. Read more »
- YATEC Diary – 5th session
  
  Presentation and sales skills were the topic for discussion for participants of the Young Australian Tourism Export Council’s National Development Program last week. Read more »

World Nomads launches ‘Van-Tastic Adventure’

WorldNomads.com is offering seven teams of travellers the chance to take a six-week road trip through Australia in a van, filming their adventures as they go.

Applications are now open for the 11-month ‘Van-Tastic Adventure’, which kicks off in Queensland in August 2009, with each team covering a different state or territory.

Applicants must upload a two-minute video to the World Nomads channel on YouTube, demonstrating their passion for adventure, with entries for the first leg closing on July 5 2009.

World Nomads Global Promotions manager Amanda Byrne said as well as the fully equipped van, participants will be provided with camping gear, a video camera, laptop, editing equipment, wireless broadband access and petrol money and will be expected to produce two videos, two blog entries and 10 photos each week.

She added: “At the end of each team’s adventure, they will have two weeks’ free access to the nearest Global Gossip internet cafe to create a mini-documentary about their ‘Van-Tastic Adventure’.”

The documentaries will be posted on the World Nomads website and the team voted the best by users will win $10,000 cash and two Virgin Blue domestic flights worth $500 each.

For more information, click here.

By Martin Lane · May 19th, 2009 at 3:20 pm