TRAVEL TRENDS - INCORPORATING TRAVELTECH AND NOVACANCY
7 July, 2008, 7:38:39 AM
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Events
Bookings are now open for TRAVELtech 2008 - Australia's leading online travel marketing, distribution and tech event. This year's theme is the open-ended Year of Living Dangerously? It can be taken a couple of ways ... the obvious: oil, inflation, interest rates and marketing costs up - challenges ahead. But it's also a question, and the good news is there's increasing evidence the online channel may be the place consumers turn at times like these. Find out more at TRAVELtech 2008. Confirmed speakers are listed below, while the latest program has just been posted - it's packed with industry leaders and topical content.
TRAVELtech, founded in 1999, focusses on the latest online travel marketing and web-based innovations. It has a well-established reputation for delivering relevant, high-quality content and excellent networking - more than 300 delegates attended in 2007. If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to sponsor, please call Martin Kelly on (612) 9882-1575. Please visit the TRAVELtech photo gallery to see some photographs from the 2007 event. Sponsors include:
INFORMATIVE, educational, provocative and sometimes controversial, Search Engine Room is the leading event for Australasia's rapidly-growing search industry. Founded in 2004, Search Engine Room is locally owned and operated. It's held annually in Australia and New Zealand, attracting widespread industry support, and has a reputation for quality content, excellent event management and staging. The program focus is on respected, well-connected speakers delivering topical, relevant information. Search engine optimisation and marketing is well-covered, while broader industry issues are also addressed through interviews with leading search industry figures. There are case studies and debates, plus panels led by informed journos. Audience interaction is encouraged and Search Engine Room always makes an effort to be forward-looking, tracking the latest search and digital trends. Consumers are also given the once-over, enabling delegates to gain a better understanding of their customers. This format has great appeal and delegates come from around the country. Apart from search marketers, marketing managers, e-commerce managers, online business owners, senior management, digital media executives and agency types predominate. Companies large and small from diverse industries are represented, including travel. Some have been in the game for years, others are just starting out. If all this sounds interesting, and may like to attend a Search Engine Room conference, please subscribe to Search Engine Room News, which is packed with original content and comes out every five or so weeks. If you have any questions, please call Martin Kelly on 612-9882-1575.
A RECORD crowd attended the second No Vacancy acommodation industry conference in Sydney recently. It was a great day featuring industry leaders, panels, case studies, presentations and debate. There was a touch of controversy with hard questions asked - and answered. Program topics included online distribution, consumer trends, channel and yield management, carbon offsetting, star ratings, modern marketing tactics, pricing, social media strategies and plenty more. No Vacancy will return in 2009 - please sign up for the TravelTrends.biz newsletter if you'd like further details. |
Aussies Go Snow Crazy As World Warms Up
THE Sunburnt Country be damned! It seems Australian’s can’t get enough of the cold white stuff. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that more Australians are taking snowy winter breaks more than at any time in our holidaying history. Somewhat ironic, don’t you think, given all the talk of Global Warming, but hard to dispute when you consider the facts. For example, fresh figures shows Aussies spent 348,520 guest nights in NZ ski hub Queenstown this year, 30% up on 2006. Australian ski resorts also reported a strong 2007 off the back of a great early falls, while in all probability Japan will welcome a record number of Aussie skiers and boarders this 07/08 season. North American resorts always do well when the Aussie dollar is as strong as it is now, and Europe may even see a few Australians with a couple of good November storms prompting an outburst of optimism and headlines such as “Something Strange is happening at Europe’s Ski Resorts – It’s snowing”. Good luck to the operators there but the likely reality is that European market share of the Aussie ski dollar will continue to dwindle with fewer Australians making the long trek to the likes of Verbier, St Anton and Chamonix. Japan and Canada are the big winners these days as they are less expensive and more reliable; New Zealand is also increasingly popular. NZ officials admit last season’s great snowfalls (contrasting with a very poor 2006 in Australia) were a major reason for this year’s boost in Aussie ski nights, which came despite ordinary skiing during the peak months. “The challenge for 2008 will be to maintain this Australian preference for Queenstown over Australian skifields following not such a strong snow year* this year,” Destination Queenstown CEO David Kennedy said. Japan visitors were also up but Queenstown faces challenges in other key markets, particularly NZ domestic, which fell 2% to around 250,000 visitor nights. That’s laughable, around 90,000 room nights less than the Aussies. Kiwis might have a lot of passports but for some reason they don’t want see an amazing slice of their own country. Go figure. NB: For those of you new to the ski industry, “not such a strong snow year” is industry-speak for “it was really bad but I can’t tell you that”. Travel Trends: December 17, 2007 Latest News
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