By Martin Kelly|2021-02-05T14:15:11+10:00February 4th, 2021|Daily News|
Macquarie Research has brought forward its travel industry recovery profile by 6-9 months due to the rollout of global vaccines in its latest analysis of the Flight Centre business. "We forecast 85% Total Turnover Value recovery (of pre COVID-19 levels) in FY24 (FY21: 30% recovery, FY22: 55%, FY23: 75%), with More ...
By Martin Kelly|2021-01-27T09:43:04+10:00January 27th, 2021|Daily News, Hotels|
COVID-wracked 2020 was the worst year ever in terms of performance for the Asia-Pacific, US, Europe, African and Middle East hotel markets, according to industry analyst STR. Asia Pacific Occupancy: 44.5% (-35.6% compared with 2019) Average daily rate (ADR): US$74.99 (-22.2%) Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$33.39 (-49.9%) Each of More ...
By Martin Kelly|2021-01-19T10:21:14+10:00January 19th, 2021|Daily News|
Australia's highest profile medical professional, Dr Brendan Murphy, pictured, says he doubts that Australia's international borders will reopen this year. Dr Murphy acknowledged ABC News Breakfast yesterday it was a "big question" and that "I think that the answer is probably no. "I think that we'll go most of this year More ...
By Martin Kelly|2021-01-18T15:45:29+10:00January 11th, 2021|Aviation, Daily News|
Update 18.1.21: Virgin eyes 'former glory after major c-suite appointments Challenging times for Virgin Australia and its new owners, Bain Capital, which paid $3.5 billion for the broke and battling airline several months ago, but has given the carrier no voice or profile during Australia's peak summer holiday season. All More ...
By Martin Kelly|2021-01-11T10:11:31+10:00January 4th, 2021|Daily News|
Tumbarumba - a sleepy timber, grape growing and grazing town in the bucolic Snowy Valleys of NSW - is undergoing a quiet tourism revolution. It's all down to a new 'rail trail' that's attracted more than 12,000 riders since a low-key opening during peak-COVID last April. Now other towns in More ...
By Martin Kelly|2021-01-04T15:25:18+10:00December 22nd, 2020|Daily News|
How much do travel agents earn? The answer for many is hardly anything at all. And that was before COVID decimated the industry, reliant as it is on international travel. This hard fact has been underscored by industry group AFTA, which now says the $128 million Federal Government assistance package More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-12-17T09:20:10+10:00December 15th, 2020|Daily News|
As scenic drives go, the 836km between Sydney and Melbourne along the Hume Highway is, for many people, exciting as a TV test pattern. The sprawling country between Australia's two largest cities is always dry and the weather hot, with a midday glare that somehow lasts for hours. More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-12-10T17:00:08+10:00December 9th, 2020|Daily News|
After a tough year in which demand slumped through COVID by up to 90 per cent, Hertz Asia Pacific boss Eoin MacNeill (pictured) says demand is bouncing back with the car hire giant starting to rebuild its fleet after cutting it by almost 40 per cent during the height of More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-12-03T09:34:37+10:00December 3rd, 2020|Aviation, Daily News|
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce says more than 200,000 airfares were sold on Jetstar and Qantas flights to Queensland in the first three days after the border openings with Sydney and Victoria were announced last week. "We're also seeing people booking several months in advance, which reflects more confidence than More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-12-02T14:11:39+10:00December 2nd, 2020|Daily News|
Australian travel agents with turnover between $50,000 and $20 million will receive grants ranging from $1500 to $100,000, the Federal Government has announced. Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham (pictured) said: “This one off payment recognises that travel agents are operating in an exceptional set of circumstances where most are having More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-12-02T12:58:01+10:00November 30th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News|
Check out this Venn diagram from Transparent, which dramatically illustrates how one dimensional the distribution strategies are of most short term rental property managers - just 15% are using a multi-channel strategy - and of course the market dominance of Airbnb. Transparent explains: "In addition to booking power, Airbnb controls More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-27T09:50:07+10:00November 27th, 2020|Daily News, Hotels|
The former Rydges on Swanston, the incubator for 90% of Victoria's deadly second COVID wave, will be refurbished and rebranded as Crowne Plaza Melbourne Carlton. New owner Ross Pelligra bought the property for $35 million in September, and says: "We plan to lift the game and give this property a More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-25T15:03:12+10:00November 25th, 2020|Aviation, Daily News|
It's great to hear the Queensland Government will be reopening its border to people from Sydney and Victoria starting December 1. The decision will not only reunite families but also provide much needed income for the state's tourism businesses, ravaged by the strict border bans. Qantas and Jetstar have already More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-23T09:40:58+10:00November 23rd, 2020|Daily News|
Retail group Helloworld has doubled down on cruising - which it doesn't expect to rebound from COVID until 2022 - purchasing privately owned Australian wholesaler CruiseCo for an undisclosed amount from existing cash reserves. CruiseCo had annual total turnover of $70 million before COVID hit and will complement Helloworld's existing More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-20T09:32:01+10:00November 20th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News, Short Term Rentals|
Booking.com has decreed that short term or holiday rentals will have to meet a minimum cleanliness standard by May 4, 2021, or have their properties delisted from the world's biggest online travel agent. "We’re asking partners to commit to a Minimal Cleanliness Score of 6 out of 10," Booking.com has More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-19T15:31:02+10:00November 19th, 2020|Daily News, Hotels|
Attitudes good and bad flows through to the bottom line, particularly in times of crisis. That's the message from leading hotels sales and revenue management consultant Tamie Matthews. Matthews, who consults a wide range of independent hotel clients in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, says while 2020 has been a tough More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-27T14:52:34+10:00November 18th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News, Short Term Rentals|
Airbnb has opened its books for the first time with the company's long-awaited SEC filing detailing the heavy impact COVID-19 has taken on bookings and revenue while defiantly declaring its performance during the ongoing pandemic has shown it to be a resilient business primed to rebound. The online accommodation juggernaut More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-16T16:49:58+10:00November 16th, 2020|Aviation, Daily News|
Qantas, Australia's national carrier and the oldest continuously operating airline in the world, today celebrates 100 years of operation at a time described by CEO Alan Joyce as the most challenging in its history due to the impact of COVID-19 on travel. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (QANTAS) was More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-12T14:39:44+10:00November 12th, 2020|Daily News|
Victorians are being urged by their State Government to keep their tourism spend local after travel restrictions were recently lifted. This is the focus of a new multi-million dollar campaign from Visit Victoria with the tagline "Stay close, go further" that will be rolled out over the next few weeks. More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-11T10:00:04+10:00November 11th, 2020|Daily News|
Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Darren Rudd appears to have awkwardly misjudged the political climate by prematurely announcing a funding package that has yet to eventuate following a conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Rudd, pictured, who had asked the Federal Government for $250 million emergency funding over 18 More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-10T10:14:51+10:00November 10th, 2020|Daily News, Hotels|
Accor has announced it is bringing the Modrian brand to Australia in partnership with hospitality development group, sbe, in which it owns 50%. The Mondrian Gold Coast hotel and branded residences will be in a prime position overlooking the beach at Burleigh Heads in southeast Queensland. It will feature "two More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-10T16:31:41+10:00November 10th, 2020|Daily News|
Travel networking and experience app Travello has bought the Backpacker Deals website and business for a mix of cash and shares. Travello claims the deal will create Australia's largest 'experience based, youth focused' Online Travel Agent. “Backpacker Deals is a market leader in the youth vertical and they’ve built some More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-09T11:11:34+10:00November 9th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News|
It's a long way back from the depths of COVID for Melbourne's short term rental industry but occupancy rates are finally heading the right direction after a year of despair, according to fresh research from Transparent Intelligence. Occupancy rates exceeded 50% in late October for the first time since More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-06T09:37:26+10:00November 6th, 2020|Daily News|
Corporate travel will lead the recovery at Flight Centre with a chance it could profitable by the middle of next year. But leisure revenue for the group has a much longer runway back due to the bulk of earnings coming from international tourism. Here are the key takeaways from the More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-05T09:57:49+10:00November 5th, 2020|Aviation, Daily News|
Borders open, flights start, tourism gets going again. Simple. Qantas and Jetstar today announced they'll operate more than 250 flights (48,000 seats) across five routes between NSW and Victoria from November 23, the date the border between the states reopens after months of closure due to Victoria's Coronvirus crisis. More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-04T15:49:44+10:00November 4th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News|
NSW destinations lead the way as holiday rental meta-search engine Holidu reports a year on year increase in searches, bookings and rates for its Australian site in the 90 days to the end of October for the summer holidays. Headline findings include: 9.64% rise in searches for domestic destinations compared More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-11-06T12:48:44+10:00November 4th, 2020|Daily News|
Webjet Managing Director John Gusicic (pictured) says cash is flowing back through the business after six months from hell, a period when travel demand collapsed, forcing it to slash costs by 50 percent, including significant staff redundancies, while raising around $500m to stay afloat. Good times. Not. But in a More ...
By Martin Kelly|2020-10-30T13:01:24+10:00October 30th, 2020|Daily News, Short Term Rental News|
The introduction of a new code of conduct for the short term rental industry in NSW has been welcomed by industry body ASTRA, which represents property owners and managers, as a major step forward. ASTRA Chairman Rob Jeffress hailed it as a "coming of age for the industry" which he More ...