Call it the Airbnb or Uber moment for holiday parks. Disruption has finally arrived in the sector – but with a twist. Established operators are facing increased competition from lightly or unregulated competitors, that are often free and operated by the councils they pay rates to. As you can imagine, there is friction. More
WTF is going on at Virgin Australia? Lovely staff, erratic product. For mine, VA is the Forrest Gump of airlines – as in, life’s like a box of chocolates “because you never know what you’re gonna get”.
If all you’ve got is price, what do you do to soften your image? More
It’s annual results season. Australian business travel giants Corporate Travel Management and Flight Centre have reported strong market share gains in a sector that Qantas, the nation’s dominant airline, today described as flat. Who are they taking share from? Full story.
This week the Australian dollar crashed to a 10-year low against the US dollar and there’s no bounce in sight as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping go head to head in a damaging trade war. What does this mean for travel and how can you prepare for the turmoil ahead? Full Story.
Business travellers wear smart clothes, travel in planes, stay in hotels with marble lobbies and have important meetings in glass-encased towers. Don’t they? More
When will it end? That’s the question some are asking about the global boom in serviced apartments, but the sector’s steep growth trajectory shows no sign of slowing with development pipelines in key markets such as Europe expanding, invigorated by the arrival of new brands and concepts. More
Vail Resorts now owns three out of the five major Australian ski fields following its acquisition of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek for $174 million from Merlin Entertainments last week.
MoreThe old saying goes that loyalty must be earned not bought. Lovely sentiment but one that is unfortunately not generally applicable these days.
More
New Executive Chairman Bob East has cleared the decks at Experience Co Ltd, with the company today downgrading its profit forecast and announcing the departure from executive ranks of its CEO Anthony Ritter and Founder/Managing Director Anthony Boucaut (Bowie).
MoreGeneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for 2018 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by a healthy 6.5% compared to full-year 2017.
MoreWhen Sue and Roger Humphris arrived in Beechworth a dozen years ago to run their first business together, it was just them, the kids and a sprawling 10 acre caravan park in the Victorian high country.
MoreLeading Australian travel business Concierge Travel Group has been bought by UK based corporate & event travel company Reed & Mackay. The sale includes the following brands: Concierge Business Travel, Concierge Traveller, Alquemie, Elegant Resorts & Villas, Freighter Expeditions.
MoreQueenstown, New Zealand’s leading international holiday destination, had the highest hotel room rates in Oceania through 2018, displacing perennial front-runner Sydney, which is still strong but adjusting to the competitive impact of numerous new properties.
MoreAcross the world there’s been crazy weather these past few weeks. But in the Swiss and French Alps it has been business as usual this winter. Snow, sunshine, alpine sport and spectacular scenery. I took these shots while travelling in Verbier and Chamonix, two of the world’s iconic mountain towns, in the second half of January. Get there of you can. And now, unfortunately, it’s back to work…
Hospitality has a multitude of moving parts but is, at its heart, a deceptively simple business, says Peter Bacon, GM of Bannisters Port Stephens.
“If you get the basics of hospitality right then everything flows from there.” More
Lawyers are supposed to protect the reputations of their clients, not trash them. But it looks like someone forget to tell the highly-paid legal eagles representing Expedia in Australia, who’ve inadvertently done a hatchet job on the credibility of once-iconic Australian subsidiary Wotif.com. More
Captain Cook Cruises has launched AHOY, Australia’s first ‘ferry hailing’ app. The first on-demand route started yesterday and covers Elizabeth Bay to Garden Island and Circular Quay in Sydney for a cost of $7.50, much cheaper than a cab, Uber or water taxi.
“Like popular ride sharing services, AHOY allows customers to locate their ferry, hail a ride and then track the ferries journey and time until it arrives, More
Blanket claims by low cost carrier Jetstar that “some fares were not refundable, and that consumers could only get a refund if they purchased a more expensive fare” may cost the airline $1.95 million. More
Ovolo Hotels is spending $5 million on its (relatively) new Canberra property, Ovolo Nishi, building 17 new rooms and revitalising the Monster Bar + Kitchen.
The new wing, designed by by Luchetti Krelle, will be finished by mid-2019. The fast-growing company is based in Hong Kong and has six Ovolo properties in Australia with more to come. More
Demographer Bernard Salt says the future is looking good for Australia’s holiday parks as the two most populous age groups – the Millennials and Baby Boomers – move into the sector’s sweet spot, albeit with very different intentions.
For the Millennials, it’s a family and mortgage thing.
“Millennials will be the fastest-rising demographic over the next 10 years,” says Salt. Nothing new in that but this time around they will be people in their 30s and 40s with kids. More
Tourism Australia (TA) predicts almost 8000 new hotel rooms will open in Australia next year following a bullish 2018 during which 56 new properties offering 6000 rooms opened around the country. More
It’s a huge day in the ever-evolving Hunter Valley with wine industry legend James Halliday opening the brand new tasting rooms and restaurant at Brokenwood, a winery he founded in the early 1970s with fellow Sydney solicitors Tony Albert and John Beeston.
Almost 50 years on, Halliday is the sole survivor of the original trio and, at 80, remains incredibly productive, unchallenged as Australia’s leading wine writer. More
Trivago’s credibility has taken a huge hit after the travel search giant admitted running misleading television advertisements and breaking two sections of Australian consumer law – actions that could be punished with fines of up to $10 million. More
Things have changed – dramatically – at Jayride since the online travel marketplace for airport transfers raised $9.5 million and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in late January.
But you wouldn’t know it talking with co-founder and Managing Director Rod Bishop, who remains as steady, calm and phlegmatic as ever.
“I’m just one of the team,” he says. More
One in three Australians is using voice search tools such as Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon) and Google Assistant when researching travel, according to the Travelport 2018 Global Digital Traveller Survey. Of the respondents, 17% said voice had the greatest influence when travelling. More
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My name is Martin Kelly and I run Travel Trends, a content, marketing, research and strategy consultancy for travel businesses.
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