Australia News
Australia's high crime rates prompt travel warning
Australia’s high crime rates have prompted Japan to issue a travel advisory warning tourists to beware of Aussie thieves.
Due to Australia’s extremely high rate of theft and muggings, Japan’s Foreign Ministry has warned tourists to Australia’s Gold Coast region not to leave valuables in locked hotel rooms and “to keep a tight grip on hand and shoulder bags”.
But CDNN Travel Editor Carmen Sanchez said that Japanese travelers are more likely than any other nationality to change their travel plans based on official government travel advisories and warned all dive travelers to Australia to take extra precautions to prevent thefts. From …
Date: May 2nd, 2005 | 5 comments
Rethink Australia marketing approach, Tourism Malaysia told
Tourism Malaysia needs to rethink its marketing approach on Australia in view of the rapidly changing travel and tourism trends, said Eddie Vela, a former senior Malaysia Airlines (MAS) executive.
�With the rise in the number of free independent travellers (FITs) with their growing affluence and high disposable income, a new trend is developing in the choice of destinations and carriers,� he told the Australia-Malaysia Business Council at its monthly meeting here.
�Today, singles and upwardly mobile couples are looking for ways to break away from the staid ways of group travel. They are looking for cultural and educational …
Date: April 26th, 2005 | No Comments
Backpacker working holiday extension
Backpackers will soon be able to work for up to twice as long while in Australia under changes to the Working Holiday Maker scheme.
A new provision to the scheme will allow any person who has undertaken seasonal harvest in regional Australia for a minimum of three months to make an application for a second Working Holiday Maker visa.
“It means backpackers will soon be able to extend their working holiday in Australia by another year, enabling them to stay longer and spend more,” Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said. From Backpacker working holiday extension
The best part of the article? …
Date: April 24th, 2005 | No Comments
Paradise For Sale? Land Grab Follows Tsunami
KOH PHI PHI - Graffiti sprayed on a wall on a tsunami-hit Thai island expresses the fears of millions now living precariously around the Indian Ocean — “Rich come for land. Poor man must go”.
In the wake of the Dec. 26 killer wave, villagers and fishermen from southern India to Sri Lanka to Thailand say powerful businessmen, often in cahoots with politicians, are grabbing lucrative beachfront real estate.
In the case of Phi Phi, a paradise isle made famous by cult Leonardo di Caprio movie ‘The Beach’, residents say developers are plotting to starve them of aid, cripple the economy and …
Date: April 13th, 2005 | No Comments
Australia has 'All the space you need'
All the Space You Need” is the slogan that will be used to encourage more Australians to holiday at home.
A new $8 million campaign featuring the slogan, unveiled yesterday by Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey, will target the one million Australians who spent $12 billion on overseas holidays in 2004.From Australia has ‘All the space you need’
There are many awesome places to visit and things to see in Australia. However, one thing that is not as easily duplicated when traveling domestically is the feeling of being ‘a fish out of water’. Culture shock can occur but not …
Date: April 11th, 2005 | No Comments
Dems call for gay sex travel warnings
Australians travelling overseas should be warned about countries which have laws against consensual gay sex, the Australian Democrats said.
The party’s sexuality spokesman, the openly gay Brian Greig, said the case of an Australian man imprisoned in Fiji for engaging in consensual gay sex highlighted the need to change travel warnings.
A court in the city of Nadi last week convicted and jailed Australian Thomas McCosker and Fiji national Dhirendra Nadan for having sex.
The pair, who did not have lawyers at their trial, were freed on bail on Tuesday after appealing their convictions. From Dems call for gay sex travel warnings
This …
Date: April 28th, 2005 | No Comments
Gallipoli on red alert
THE mass pilgrimage expected to services at Gallipoli over the weekend faces the toughest security clampdown in the history of Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey.
The Herald Sun has learned the number of police, army and security staff on duty this year will be double that of last year, when the Federal Government advised Australians against visiting Gallipoli due to terrorism fears. From Gallipoli on red alert
Date: April 24th, 2005 | No Comments
Qantas tightens thumbscrews
Qantas Airways has been accused of misusing its market power by threatening to withhold air ticket sales commissions from travel agents unless they meet targets for selling holiday packages from its Qantas Holidays unit.
Most travel agents say they are in the middle of reaching new agreements with Qantas, which dominates Australia�s air and holiday package tourism sector and will not comment publicly.
But some, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deals Qantas is trying to strike were a way for the airline to turn around Qantas Holidays, which is performing well in international sales but not as well domestically. From …
Date: April 23rd, 2005 | No Comments
Visit to a small planet
MAYBE YOU’RE AN honest-to-god traveling person, the sort of free spirit who clocks in at the ol’ McJob long enough to book a cheap courier ticket to another country, where you roam for a month, sleeping on beaches, making new best pals forever with the people snoring next to you at the hostels, learning about the local ways from the old guy propped beside you at the smoky watering hole down the road. Or maybe you’re like me � a procrastinator, a far-away dreamer, someone who trolls the travel section of your local indie bookstore, getting lost for hours in …
Date: April 12th, 2005 | No Comments
Travel from North America to Indonesia, India or South Africa on Qantas Airways and Get a Free Australian Stopover
North American travelers bound for Indonesia, India or South Africa on Qantas Airways can now add Australia to their business or leisure itineraries without adding to their airfare. For the first time, Qantas is offering passengers free Australian stopovers in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane on flights from the United States bound for Bali and Jakarta, Mumbai and Johannesburg.
“With our free Australian stopover offer, Qantas passengers can enjoy renowned Australian hospitality on board, discover three great cities in Australia and then easily and conveniently connect to their final destinations,” said Howard Goldberg, Qantas Airways vice president, sales and marketing, The Americas. …
Date: April 9th, 2005 | No Comments