The Christmas Confessional - Are Aussies the Ultimate Grinch?

According to a recent survey held by online travel agent ZUJI Australia, Australians prefer sun over snow, family over friends and bad B.O. over crying kids as they travel over this year's Christmas season.

More than 2000 travellers participated in ZUJI's Christmas Confessional, which asked respondents a range of questions about their holiday travel plans.

Managing Director of ZUJI Australia James Gaskell, says the survey revealed Australians are typically family-minded and understanding when it comes to travelling over Christmas, but the Grinch may still lurk nearby.

More than 75% of Australians will be catching up with family members over the next few weeks, with some 40% planning to travel interstate or even internationally just to be close to their loved ones.

The survey, however, shows that even though Australians enjoy visiting family, they still like their personal space.

"Whereas some 70% of survey respondents stated that they'd travel around the world just to be with their family over the holidays, a similar number said they would prefer to book a hotel room rather than shack up with the rellies during their visit," says Gaskell.

The survey also revealed that two thirds of Aussies would rather forgo a white Christmas altogether, instead rating their ideal Christmas holiday destination as somewhere with sun and sand. And when it comes to hotels, around a third of the respondents said they valued their peace and quiet so much that they would splash out on a child-free resort.

"Travelling during the silly season means plenty of packed out flights. Interestingly, when it came to flight horrors, Australians selected neglectful parents and their wailing children as their number one nightmare, over travellers who had neglected to shower," says Gaskell.

Popular ways of dealing with these nightmare travel neighbours included giving 'the look' or simply making the cabin crew deal with it. But rather than make a scene, the great majority of Australians would rather simply grin and bear it.

(Source: Travmedia.com)

Domestic Travel to Brighten the Gloom

Concerns about the global economic crisis, natural disasters and the strength of the Australian dollar have led to a gloomy outlook for Australian tourism operators as performance hits its lowest point in three years, according to the latest TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey.

With the upcoming Christmas – New Year period, operators are bracing for a struggle with more than 40 per cent expecting international tourism to be worse than usual.

Domestic tourism is expected to be more positive with 15 per cent of those surveyed forecasting for improvement. Tourism operators are not getting their hopes up too high, but hoping for better weather than Christmas and January last year, especially in Queensland.

"If there's a brighter spot, it’s that tourism operators are slightly less pessimistic about domestic travel for the upcoming holiday period, but keep in mind that expectations remain well below average,” Tourism Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said.

The survey also mentioned concern for the increasing labour shortages, with two thirds of those surveyed indicating their operations were impeded by a lack of skilled labour.

The TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey is conducted among senior executives from some of the most important Australian tourism operators including airlines, hotels, tour operators and attractions.

(Source: eTravelblackboard.com)

Tell the Nation Why There's Nothing Like Australia and Win!

Tourism Australia is inviting the nation to tell their fellow Aussies why There's nothing like Australia for a chance to win an amazing holiday.

To enter, simply upload your favourite Australian place or experience to nothinglikeaustralia.com.au and in 25 words or less explain why there's nothing like Australia.

Entrants could win one of 16 Australian holidays to the most inspiring and creative holiday entry, as voted by a judging panel made up of representatives from Tourism Australia, Qantas and Luxury Lodges of Australia. In addition you can enter a 'dream team' and bring up to five people with you to share in the amazing holiday experience.

The promotion runs until October 31, 2011.

Tourism Australia Launches Domestic Campaign

Tourism Australia launches domestic campaign

Tourism Australia is inviting the nation to tell their fellow Aussies why There's nothing like Australia for a chance to win an amazing holiday. To enter, simply upload your favorite Australian place or experience to nothinglikeaustralia.com.au and in 25 words or less explain why there's nothing like Australia.

16 Australian holidays are up for grabs for the most inspiring and creative entries, as voted by a judging panel made up of representatives from Tourism Australia, Qantas and Luxury Lodges of Australia.

In addition you can enter a 'dream team' and bring up to five people with you to share in the amazing holiday experience. The promotion runs until October 31, 2011. Visit the website for more information.

Tourism Australia Woos Aussies

The domestic market will be the main focus of the next phase of Tourism Australia’s There’s nothing like Australia campaign,

unveiled today, as the tourism body tries to convince Australians to holiday at home.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson, speaking at the launch in Sydney, said that these were “testing times” and cited the strong dollar, greater competition from overseas and natural disasters as industry challenges that were seeing people holiday elsewhere.

But he referred to this week's National Visitor Survey, which revealed an increase in domestic numbers, as a positive sign and stressed there was potential to improve further.

“Yes, the dollar is strong, but we must never forget that those with money to travel overseas, have the money to travel in Australia,” Ferguson said.

The campaign, kicking off this weekend, will invite Australians to upload their favourite homegrown experience on website www.nothinglikeaustralia.com.au and nominate a "dream team" of five people that they would like to share the experience with.

Participants will be eligible to win one of 16 holidays, worth a total $300,000.

“80% of Australians think they can sell Australia better than us, so we’ve embraced that,” Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said at the launch. “It’s a rallying cry for Australians to tell each other why Australia is so good.”

The tourism body has invested $2.5 million in the digitally led campaign.

“In Australia alone, 46% of consumers visit travel sites on a monthly basis which is why we are embarking on such a big push online,” McEvoy said.

(Source: Travel Weekly, September, 2011)

Time for Australians to Start Making Tracks by Taking an Australian Holiday

Australians are being urged to take inspiration from the musical journeys of eight talented young musicians and to start Making Tracks by taking an Australian holiday.

In the lead up to this weekend's YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 performance at the Sydney Opera House, four of the orchestra members who each partnered with a contemporary Australian musician, have been on their own musical journeys to different parts of the country.

Their journeys have been captured in four videos called Making Tracks, and are backed by the original compositions created during their trips, to inspire Australians and others to get out and explore Australia.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said Australians now have the opportunity to follow in their footsteps and immerse themselves in the range of Australian holiday experiences on offer.

"It is easy to take for granted all the things about Australia that inspire visitors to holiday here but Aussies too can reap the benefits of taking a holiday in their own backyard," McEvoy said.

"Through Making Tracks we get to see how these eight incredible musicians were transformed by the landscapes and experiences during their time in Australia.

"Now we want Australians to be Making Tracks of their own - whether it's taking a trip to experience our country's iconic destinations or getting off the beaten track," he said.

Andrew McEvoy said Australia continues to be the most popular holiday destination for domestic travellers, with Australians taking more than 67 million overnight trips in 2010.

To get some inspiration for planning their next domestic holiday, Tourism Australia is urging Australians to log on to view the Making Tracks videos at www.australia.com/makingtracks
and for 29,000 reasons why There's nothing like Australia for a holiday visit www.nothinglikeaustralia.com.

(Source: travemedia.com March 2011)