Hingerty, a former chief of staff to Liberal Party shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, said he has no firm plans other than spending more time with his family.

ATEC chairman John King said the position will be advertised in national newspapers in mid-August with a replacement hopefully in place before Hingerty’s departure in mid-January.  

He paid tribute to Hingerty’s contribution to ATEC, the inbound tourism sector and the wider tourism industry.

“Under his leadership ATEC has developed to become one of the most respected tourism bodies in Australia and internationally.”

He said Hingerty had displayed a unique ability to relate to individual ATEC members and tourism operators, ministers, departmental officials and leaders of commerce with equal effectiveness.

He added: “His advocacy on behalf of the tourism industry, while passionate and strong, has nevertheless earned the respect and attention of those receiving the representations. As a result his counsel has often sought by government ministers and other industry leaders. In spite of a variety of challenging issues and difficult trading conditions, ATEC has remained strong under Matt’s leadership and management.”

Hingerty said: “It was difficult to advise the board that I will not be seeking a new contract, but I strongly believe in renewal, and after six years it is time for a change – for both me and for ATEC. ATEC has never been a ‘one man band’, it has a great staff, an engaged board, passionate members and supportive stakeholders. It is also in a very sound financial position.”

He said he was most proud of the fostering of the industry’s youth through Young ATEC.

“There is a massive generational change underway in the industry, with brilliant young people coming through the ranks bringing new ideas and new passion. At the same time they are respectful and hungry for the knowledge of our industry’s pioneers. I am absolutely certain that, because of them, our industry and ATEC will thrive in the future.

Sleigh has been out of the industry since deciding not to proceed with the deal, but is now actively looking for work.

He told Thumbrella: “I have had a great few months off, am very relaxed and looking forward to the next challenge.”

But even his legendary tact and diplomacy was tested when the press release arrived from Worldnomads.com announcing one of the winners of its Van-Tastic competition answers to the name of Willie Concepción.

“Surely that’s his porn star name,” suggested Thumbo, before collapsing in a fit of hyena-like giggles.

Fortunately, he was dissauded from leading with the headline ‘Willie Concepción comes first’ – so we used it here instead.

Worldnomads.com has announced the winners of its year-long Van-Tastic competition which saw seven teams of travellers journey around Australia while documenting their trips via social media.  

Americans Willie Concepción and Andrew Adams, who took part in the Northern Territory leg of the competition, were voted by the travelling public as the winners of two return airfares to anywhere in Australia with Virgin Blue and $10,000 cash.

The contest saw travellers submit a two-minute video to be one of the pairs selected for a six-week all-expenses paid road trip around one Australian state or territory. Each team was then required to blog and make videos throughout their journey with the winning team decided by public vote.

Voter Naomi Edmondson was also awarded a prize package including an iPod Touch, iPhone, MacBook Pro and Canon video camera.

Van-Tastic Adventures was sponsored by the State Tourism Offices of NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia, Backpacking Queensland, YHA, Global Gossip and TNT Magazine.

Greenhouse general manager Steve Gaff said: “I’m very proud of what Greenhouse Backpackers has accomplished. The 10th anniversary party was a special evening and it allowed us to thank the many people that have contributed to is success. ”

He added: “We couldn’t have done it without the trust, respect and support of the entire backpacker community both locally and nationally. It shows that successful businesses are dependent on fruitful relationships and partnerships.”

The Go Ashes app includes destination information, bar and restaurant recommendations for the five Ashes host cities (Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney) as well as team news, live updates and videos featuring cricketers including Michael Bevan, Justin Langer, Darren Lehmann and Damien Fleming.

There’s also a competition to win a two-week trip for two to the Brisbane Test at the Gabba starting on November 25 including return flights, accommodation and a five-day Gold ticket to the game.

This year the voting process is being conducted exclusively online, with voters directed to a web page to enter their votes then sent an e-mail which they have to respond to before their votes are counted. Each e-mail address will only be accepted once.

As well as being promoted via tntdownunder.com and Global Gossip, backpacker businesses can also link to the web page from their own websites, with a range of artwork available from TNT to encourage customers to vote

Run in association with TNT Magazine and Thumbrella, the Golden Backpacks are the only consumer-voted awards for Australia and New Zealand’s independent travel industry. Voting closes on September 24 and the winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Sydney’s Star City Casino on November 4.

For more information about Golden Backpack Awards digital artwork or to book a place at the dinner, e-mail denise@focalattractions.com.au.

YHA Ltd CEO Julian Ledger told delegates at last week’s BOA NSW talk the drop-off over the 2010 mid-year period has been “bigger than any of 9/11, SARS, the Bali bombings and the GFC”, with industry occupancies well down during June as people stayed home for the soccer world cup.  He warned the low value of the Euro and the Pound and economic weakness in source markets are continuing to damage confidence to travel.

Ledger told Thumbrella while the first two weeks of July were encouraging, this was an annual occurrence caused by the end of the university year in Europe and North America and school holidays boosting domestic business for YHA.

“We’re not out of the woods yet. The industry’s challenge is to get the message out there that it is working holidays as usual, we need working holidaymakers and Australian employers like and need them.”

Global Gossip director Peter Ovenden said the seeds of the downturn were not sown in the last six months but were the result of a lack of jobs last summer. He added: “Young travellers haven’t had access to the work they need to fund their onward travel, both here and overseas.”

However, he said the forthcoming Ashes tour, the recovering jobs market in the gateway cities and increasing rural work opportunities were grounds for optimism.

Ox Experience general manager Greg Cole told Thumbrella load factors are up in Tasmania – surprising for winter – while sales are up on the east coast on the back of the company’s $100,000 winter giveaway promotion with TNT.

Meanwhile, he said a year-on-year comparison of customer reports showed 32 per cent chose Oz Ex because it offered value for money while 10 Per cent bought on price.

“It’s remarkable that both years were almost identical – the point being peoples’ reasons for buying our product don’t seem to have changed as the dollar strengthens.”

The real perils of booking a holiday without planning properly are at the centre of a new ad campaign for Yahoo7’s Totaltravel.com.au, writes Thumbrella’s sister site, Mumbrella.

ATEC Managing Director Matt Hingerty said the International Education Visitation Tourism Opportunities report, published earlier this year by the Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre (STCRC), showed the ramifications of cutting student visas were not fully understood by either side of the political divide and said further industry consultation was necessary on the issue.

“This report shows the impact of the international student market on the inbound tourism industry in black and white. Any changes to international student visa numbers need to be made with the knowledge of the flow-on effects this will have on other sectors of the economy.”

Hingerty said the report, the first comprehensive tourism study of international students and their visiting friends and relatives, showed the international education sector was a vital component of Australia’s $26 billion inbound tourism sector, with more than 70 per cent of student visa holders expecting at least two friends and two family members to visit them in Australia.

He added: “Australian tourism businesses are just emerging from one of the most challenging trading periods in recent memory, having to deal with the Global Financial Crisis, a high dollar, a shortage of labour and increased competition from overseas tourism destinations. ATEC looks forward post-election to explaining to both sides of politics that decreasing the number of international students will adversely impact the inbound tourism industry.”

Ledger said events such as Vivid, Vivacity and Crave are people orientated, play to the city’s strengths, have broad appeal and free elements – making them ideal for the youth market.

He urged the industry to support these initiatives – and others such as the Sydney Writers Festival and Sydney Film Festival – by organising its own events to coincide with them and attract visitors all year round.

“We fire off A$5 million of fireworks every New year’s Eve creating an iconic TV image around the world. The trouble is, everyone wants to come on the same day, leading to price gouging and minimum stay periods which are not great for the city or its customers. I wonder what it would be like if we fired off $5 million of fireworks during the June public holiday.”

Ledger added it was important to avoid using the w word – “winter” – when promoting Sydney overseas.

“If you mention winter to someone from the northern hemisphere they imagine frozen tundra, freezing temperatures and six hours of daylight – well, it’s not really like that here.”

International student placement service IDP Education marketing director Julian Longbottom described the combination as a “perfect storm”, with Indian students switching from Australia to the UK due to the weakness of sterling compared to the dollar.

He told delegates at a BOA NSW talk in Sydney yesterday the market had slumped by between 70 and 90 per cent with Victoria hardest hit due to its previous popularity with Indians students.

Griffith University Professor Michael Davidson told delegates at the BOA NSW talk in Sydney yesterday many international students invite friends and family to Australia at graduation time: “Yet how many packages do you see for people bringing parents over from China for example?”

Presenting the “International Education Visitation Tourism Opportunities” report, Griffith University researcher Sarah Gardiner said there were four key untapped tourism opportunities: motivating international students to travel during their studies, recruiting them as advocates for Australia, future repeat visitors and attracting VFR.

A national online survey of 5991 international students in Australia found almost 85 per cent travel during their studies, most taking short breaks of less than four nights (62 per cent) and travelling with friends or relatives (77 per cent). While many stay in hotel/motels or holiday apartments (67 per cent), a significant proportion stay in a backpacker hostel (22 per cent) with European and North American students the most likely to do so.

“This is very much a group market, not the lone independent traveller you would associate with the backpacking sector and you need to think about that when tailoring packages,” said Gardiner.

However, she warned it can be difficult to gain access to students: “It’s not about an individual operator knocking on the door of the university, we need a structural change at a higher level. Getting access to students is key and we need to think of an industry-wide way of doing that.”

Colourful Trips director Brett Eldershaw said it was crucial to commit fully to the market to be successful and to target students before they arrive in Australia.

“It’s easier to sell students things before they leave their home country as they are overwhelmed when they get here,” he added.

International student placement service IDP Education marketing director Julian Longbottom said more than 25 per cent of student expenditure is tourism related, with students spending an average $3,945 on tourism product during their studies.

To view Sarah Gardiner’s presentation, click here. For a full copy of the report, which was funded by the Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre, click here.

To view Julian Longbottom’s presentation, click here.

Speaking at a BOA NSW talk in Sydney yesterday, Hingerty said the population debate is becoming a proxy for a debate about national vision, with Labor and the Coalition “in a race to the bottom on population, with the Greens cheering them on from the sidelines”.

“I don’t know what happens to politicians during election campaigns – why they take off their heads and put on pumpkins.

Hingerty said Australia’s ageing population was boosted during the GFC by ex-pats returning home in search of kinder economic conditions, resulting in an increase in the number of dependent people not working or generating taxes.

However, he added a growing population means people moving around and in and out of the country, which is good for tourism. This, combined with the resources boom and a job shortage in the mining sector, will create a demand for labour which will need to be imported.

“Backpackers aren’t the final answer to our labour needs going forward but they will be very important. The miracle of the Australian economy is that we got through the GFC okay, we’re booming out of it and we’ll have the one thing backpackers need and that’s jobs.”

He urged the industry to keep making a “passionate case” for the youth, student and backpacker market and to have the relevant statistics – “$3.6 billion, 40 million room nights” – at their fingertips once election fever has subsided.

Greyhound terminal supervisor and former Global Gossip cafe manager Katharine Bell said the cafe had been home to the Byron Bay Transit Centre booking desk for more than 11 years, making it the obvious choice for Greyhound’s base.

She added: “Global Gossip cafe has long been the unofficial tourist information centre for Byron Bay visitors. Our link with Mackay Travel means Greyhound can now offer a complete travel booking service including international travel.”

Greyhound Australia Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomas said establishing a Byron Bay terminal was good news for the backpacker town.

He added: “Byron Bay is one of the most loved stops on Greyhound’s popular Sydney to Cairns route so it makes perfect sense for us to invest in this local community and provide travellers with a better service.”

For information on schedules and prices, visit greyhound.com.au.