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For the record, Travel Daily reports:

"Effective 15 Feb QF international fuel surcharges will rise to $350 one way, up $60, for flights to London and Frankfurt. The new fuel surcharge for US flights will be $310 in each direction, also up $60, while for Buenos Aires/Santiago/Johannesburg flights the surcharge rises $40 to $240. And for Asia and Honolulu flights the current $145 surcharge will increase to $165 one way.

"Qantas year-round domestic fares will also increase from 9 February, with increases of around $5 per sector.

"Qantas Frequent Flyer Classic redemptions will incur a $12 fuel surcharge, up $2.

"Also from 15 February Qantas will impose a surcharge of $3.50 each way to fares booked in Australia for QF flights to and from London and Frankfurt, in relation to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

"The Australian carbon pricing system, which comes into effect on 1st July, will see a distance-based surcharge applied to Qantas and QantasLink fares, costing $1.82 for flights up to 700km, $2.79 for 701-1200km, $4 for 1201-1900km and $6.86 for 1900km+. These surcharges will take effect for tickets booked on or after 15 February, for travel on or after 01 July.

"Jetstar will also increase all domestic lead-in fares by $10 "in response to higher cost inputs including fuel prices and the introduction of the carbon price," with these increases also effective 15 February for travel from 01 July 2012."

ends.

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Chinese tourists have been a focus for the region and this year there were an extra 13 charter flights plus regular services into Cairns from China Southern, China Eastern, Cathay Pacific and Qantas to cope with the demand during the peak Chinese holiday season.

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“The traditional daily deals formula is not well suited to the holiday rental industry, with the need for high levels of deals per property and high supplier fees, however, we believe there is a way that we can implement a daily deals approach that works for both consumers and our property owners’ desire to secure more bookings,” says Anton Stanish, General Manager, Travel Marketplaces Division Fairfax Digital.

"If the feedback is positive we may look at rolling this out on an ongoing basis.”

Mr Stanish says the holiday deals will be based around weekend bookings, excluding peak periods, with properties discounted at 50% off their regular price.

The major difference from many daily deals offerings is that there's no set number of "deals" have to be purchased before the discount is triggered.

Stayz is also running a consumer competition, giving away five holidays. See new website.

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Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International and Wyndham Hotel Group all own a piece of the new site – Roomkey.com.

It’s caused something of a stir in the tight-knit world of travel distribution though not the controversy it might generate in some other industries where suppliers would never set up shop to compete directly with retailers.

But the travel industry has seen it all before.

A recent example includes the oddly named Opodo, a European Online Travel Agent now owned by private equity, which was originally formed in 2000 as a joint venture between Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa.

Their motivation, same as the Roomkey.com founders, was to cut travel agency distribution costs, which can be as high as 30 per cent.

The partner airlines figured they could sell their airfares at a reduced commission through their very own online co-operative, just like Roomkey.com

But it wasn’t that simple.

For a start, big commercial websites cost a lot of money to run and market – they eat cash, especially in the early formative years.

Then there’s the issue of ultimately funding what is essentially a competitor to your own branded site, which is not only a straight out conflict of interest but also undermines the cheapest distribution channel for any business.

So over time the original partners sold out to Amadeus, a global travel distribution system, which eventually divested it as a non-core asset to AXA Private Equity and Permira Funds for €500 million.

That works out at 11.7 earnings, which is pretty good money, though you’d have to think a lot had been spent along the way so it was probably a zero sum game.

It’s worth noting that when Opodo was started 12 years ago, the internet was all about potential – no-one was really making any money online.

But that quickly changed as global travel slumped in the aftermath of 911 and hoteliers turned to online travel agents to help sell heavily discounted rooms.

These days everyone buys travel on the web and online travel agents have matured into highly profitable businesses.

How profitable?

Let’s use Priceline.com, one of the fastest growing on international online travel agents, as an example.

In the third quarter alone, Priceline.com had a turnover of US$6.3 billion (up 56.2 per cent year on year), revenue of US$1.5 billion (up 45 per cent) and net income of US$469.5 million compared with US$223 million for the same period a year ago.

That’s a lot of money, and the growth rates remain astonishing, especially at a time when the hotel industry in many parts of the world is going through hard times.

Hence the hoteliers feel they are doing all the work but the online travel agents are making all the money for little effort.

An obvious question at this point is: why don’t the hotels just stop selling through online travel agents?

The answer is they can’t afford to. Online travel agents dominate the market and are still growing at a ferocious rate, as we can see from the Priceline.com example above.

This brings us back to where we started – Roomkey.com.

It’s a nice site – softer, prettier and simpler than its commercial rivals – but in my opinion Roomkey.com will have no meaningful impact on the online accommodation market.

The major reason is that hundreds of millions of dollars are required each year to gain the kind of profile and scale a site like this needs to be profitable.

And there is no way the partner companies have that kind of money to invest in a website that is 1) a potential competitor and 2) a non-core business.

Ultimately, Roomkey.com is expensive rhetoric.

Ends

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Joyce said: "The determination from Fair Work Australia does not contain any of the restrictive demands that would have handed control of parts of the airline to the union." Qantas is still  negotiating with the Australian and International Pilots Association and the Transport Workers Union through FWA.

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Every debt-fuelled boom is followed by a bust, sure as night follows day. Yet ignorance is bliss. Just ask me. In mid-2007 I wrote that Australian hotel industry was entering “a golden period of prosperity” marked by high demand and low supply.

Within months the booming US housing market began imploding and the first cracks in the global banking system appeared. By 2008, it was all over. Welcome to the real world.

As a result the Australian hotels did not enter a “golden era”. Demand and room rates collapsed in just about all markets throughout 2008 before a fractured recovery began in 2009/10 with a two-class tourism economy emerging.

Many CBD properties are back in rude health and their future looks bright, especially Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, although regional markets remain generally weak.

But no-one is getting carried away this time. Conservatism reigns in an environment radically different from mid-2007. The wounds are still raw.

No doubt this is a major reason why many industry pundits have been talking down investment and development opportunities in the hotel sector despite occupancy rates around 80 per cent or more in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Yet it appears the mood may be changing.

Analyst Dean Dransfield, who only three months ago could not see new hotel development stacking up in financial terms, is now more optimistic.

“People are forecasting powerful things for the east coast cities in terms of high RevPAR growth, and I actually think all these markets will actually exceed people’s expectations,” Dransfield says.

“In the second half of this year, people may well find development opportunities in the mid-market and serviced apartment sectors.”

Overall, Dransfield says RevPAR across all major markets Australian markets will grow 3.4 per cent year up to 2019. Following are his company’s forecasts for each market.

Adelaide: Characterised by variable demand, the Adelaide market was hurt by a nine per cent supply boost in 2011. More hotels are expected from 2013. As a result Adelaide forecasts have been downgraded with long-term RevPAR growth of 2.7 per cent forecast.

Brisbane: The Queensland capital, which performed very well in 2011, looks strong for the next couple of years before an increase in supply during 2013-14 “should slow down rate growth and see occupancies fall below 80 per cent”.

Cairns: The feeling is that Cairns has finally hit bottom after years of slow decline. “Occupancies have returned to above 60 per cent and are forecast to remain so to 2019.” There’ll be some good medium term RevPAR growth off a low base although this market is notoriously volatile.

Canberra: Steadier than a bureaucrat eyeing retirement. Long-term RevPAR growth of 1.8 per cent is forecast.

Darwin: “Having performed strongly since 2005, the amount of new supply has not generated sustained demand. This will see occupancies fall below 70 per cent and remain (there) for some time, placing pressure on rates in the short to medium term. “

Gold Coast: Diminished expectations for this key Queensland leisure market although forecast long-term RevPAR growth of 3.5 per cent is stronger than many other markets. Potential positives include the continued expansion of the Chinese market and a weaker Australian dollar.

Hobart: “After an extended period of strong growth, Hobart is forecast to face consecutive years of RevPAR decline. Long-term Dransfield is forecasting annual RevPAR growth of 1.9 per cent.

Melbourne: The southern capital has absorbed new supply better than expected and the future is looking good with long-term annual RevPAR upgraded to 3.9 per cent.

Perth: Hot market still, strong RevPAR growth of 7.5 per cent forecast to 2013, though could be higher depending on supply.

Sydney: Predicted to be Australia’s strongest market over the next two years. “Occupancy topping 85 per cent in the medium term should drive annual revenue growth of 8.9 per cent to 2013. As major supply comes online from 2015 rate growth should stabilize.”

As for the future, it is bright.

“The outlook for hotel investment operation remains very strong in most Australian capital city markets.

“The supply threat remains distant and minor, and existing occupancy levels are high enough to embolden rate growth, well above inflation over the medium term

Yes, times are good. But say it quietly and never use the phrase: “Entering a golden era”.

Ends.

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