The company was in the headlines again last week when The Cairns Post reported some readers had complained about the more colourful slogans on its vehicles.

When contacted by the paper, Webb condemned the alleged slogans, pledged to investigate fully and repaint any offending vehicles, while blaming the problem on the activities of a rogue graffiti artist who had since been fired.

He assured The Cairns Post that Wicked was cleaning up its image and got in a nice plug for its new vans, tastefully decorated with indigenous artwork (see above).

All of this appeared alongside a photo of Cairns branch manager John Laughton posing next to a Wicked van, prominently displaying the company’s web address and telephone booking line.

Genius.

I don’t claim I’m practising an exact science here – my research is based on about 10 conversations and there’s clearly an element of rounding up or down going on – but the 20 per cent figure is trotted out consistently. And the people I’ve been talking to represent some fairly substantial backpacker businesses, so perhaps it’s not so wide of the mark.

And if it is an accurate reflection of what’s going on out there, then it suggests a far bigger slump than official sources are warning us to expect. The last set of International Visitor Survey figures for January to March 2010 showed backpacker numbers up 33,000 year on year, while even the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s more gloomy assessment suggested a fall of only 6.75 per cent in WHM visa grants during the first 10 months of the 2009/10 financial year. DIAC also reports an increase in applications from some source markets.

So what’s going on? I know it’s in everyone’s interests to talk the market up – I do a fair bit of it myself in my capacity as media spokesman for BTAP and BOA NSW – but these are official figures from government departments, not wishful thinking from marketers and tourism PRs.

My guess is that some are doing better than others, with 20-30 per cent down the worst-case scenario, but that there’s a lag between the official stats and what’s happening on the ground. Which hopefully means that although the next set of official figures will be worse than the last, this will not reflect the growing numbers leaving our source markets when the European summer ends.

I base this on the mood in London, where the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s emergency budget and England’s dismal performance in the world cup has left everyone feeling thoroughly depressed and worried about the future. But with the pound strengthening against the Aussie dollar, UK unemployment still on the rise and more competition for graduate jobs than ever, there’s grounds to hope for a mass exodus of the nation’s youth come September.

Cautious optimism is the new black.

Over 10 local South Coast tourism operators joined BOA Committee representatives and members at the ‘BOA Talks South Coast’ event in Wollongong last Thursday to engage in lively debate regarding travel and tourism issues affecting the backpacker, student and youth market in the south coast region.  

Attendees were interested to hear more about how they can start tapping further into the university market drawing on the overwhelming success of student numbers attending the University of Wollongong. In particular, attendees were keen to learn how they can begin to start proactively working together to bring independent and adventurous travellers south, away from the well worn tourist path north from Sydney up the east coast.

Jill Whitehouse from Tourism NSW reported on early indicators for the international backpacker, student and youth market with the latest statistics showing no growth in student numbers to NSW and an overall decrease in visa lodgements.

Clearly a difficult time at present for the industry on the back of the Global Financial Crisis, the crowd who gathered were buoyed by the public support shown for the “We love the Gong” campaign, launched by Tourism Wollongong earlier this year. Greg Binskin, Tourism Wollongong General Manager showed how spreading positive communication about Wollongong by targeting people who live, work and play in region plus harnessing social media effectively can reap results.

The crowd was also intrigued to hear from Tamara Prowse (Skydive the Beach) and Paul Vella (Surf Camp) who presented tangible examples of what works in the market and what still needs to be done.

Greg Binskin, in response to the Tourism NSW research findings, said it was now more important than ever for Tourism NSW to communicate proactively their strategies for the future.

“What we need now is Tourism NSW to demonstrate a commitment to long term investment in our sector and consistency in message to position NSW effectively. Regions such as the south coast offer substantially increased value to the Sydney mix and simply must be included to broaden the appeal for young, independent and adventurous travellers.”

BOA NSW whole heartedly agrees with Tourism Wollongong’s positioning which goes so far as ensuring travellers can play, work, study and then return to NSW in the future thus increasing the lifetime value of the backpacker market for NSW and justifying the appropriate promotional investment required.

Regional operators also expressed their concerns over the disappearance of the Tourism NSW Surf Tourism Strategy. Upon its launch it was pitched as a NSW positioning strategy and is something that BOA NSW members are very keen to support. However, Surf Camp’s Paul Vella reiterated many surf tour operators’ concerns that they have not been advised on the progress of this strategy, it’s promotional and in-market activities and how operators can leverage it effectively. A response from Tourism NSW is expected in due course.

Networking drinks concluded the day’s proceedings and clearly enthused by the afternoon’s dialogue, a few local operators are now planning to band together, with the support of BOA NSW, to help develop strategies to raise the profile of the south coast. The group plan to promote it as a hidden gem for international travellers wanting to experience a true Australian regional city and coastline just 1.5 hours south of Sydney.

BOA NSW is the peak industry body for all backpacker operators in NSW and ACT. It aims to address the concerns and issues of operators and work collaboratively with industry to encourage young, independent and adventurous travellers, students and workers to play, study and work for longer in the State. Go to the BOA NSW website (www.boansw.org.au) for more information about BOA NSW networking and educational events.

Founder of Brokepacker.com Kevin Lippy explains there are three types of discounting ahead of the website’s launch tonight.

A prison yard is a tough, volatile, dangerous, cut throat and an extremely unpredictable environment… Kind of like the Australian backpacking industry during low season.  

It is survival of the fittest in its purest form and your ability to adapt to the unwritten rules of this environment is crucial. On the inside you are either the predator or the prey. Reputation is everything. If you do not have one, you have to earn one… and in the prison yard everyone’s trying to earn one. You have only three options:

Option 1   – Lay low and avoid confrontation - AKA don’t Discount

This would definitely be the best solution… if only it were your decision! Sure you are just doing a five-month stretch of hard time and are eligible for parole as soon as September but in prison that can be a lifetime. You can attempt to lay low and avoid confrontation at all costs because you believe fighting is futile and at the end of the day nobody wins in a prison yard war. Avoiding scraps in the yard is not that easy and you have to accept that some of the others will perceive you as a target, steal from you and are more than likely going to cost you a couple of beatings during this period.

I reckon the “anti-discounting” argument has a lot of credence, especially when you consider the amount of ‘irrational pricing’ going on at the moment. I would even go as far as saying it is optimal outcome theoretically (for operators at least)… Now if only it were possible! So long as there is a substantial over-supply of operators facilitating every single need or want a backpacker could have during low season, it will always be a ‘buyers market’ and discounting will continue to be rife. Eradicating “discounting” all together is about as likely as asking an entire prison population to promise not to fight each other and then getting them to “ group hug it out.”

Option 2  – Go out Swinging  – AKA Irrational Discounting

Head-butt the first guy that looks at you… no matter who he is. Anyone else in your path, do the same and continue to do so to every other inmate who so much as breathes near you. You want to earn the rep that you are a loose cannon that is not to be messed with. Sure, this may be effective in the short term and you might make it through a couple of scruffs but this kind of recklessness is unsustainable and eventually you’ll make the wrong enemies.

“Irrational discounting” of your ‘entire capacity’ as opposed to just your ‘excess capacity’ may lead to short term gain but it will be at the expense of long term survival. I reckon that the reason there is so much irrational discounting at the moment is because a significant portion of small independent operators simply don’t have the brand, marketing capacity or budget to promote themselves on any other point except ‘price.’

Option 3 – Be prepared  - AKA Rational Discounting

When you walk onto the yard be alert and always have something up your sleeve (both in the weapon and gift sense). Be willing to give something away to the people that matter but never give too much upfront or it will cost you dearly in the long run. Work out who the big dogs are and hand them a couple of smokes. In this way you will be incentivising them upfront as opposed to waiting for them to come and take them from you anyway later, when they come to kick your ass! While you will still need to get your hands dirty and earn some prison cred, you decide to be more calculated and deliberate in your decision of who to take on. Be patient and make sure you have strategically sized up your target to ensure you are not punching above your weight.

I like the notion of incentivising those who book early rather than rewarding those who book late with discounts. I also think it is important to only offer discounts as a means of generating sales that ‘would not have otherwise been secured,” or else you are simply cannibalising your revenue. I put it to you that “discounting” alone is not what is killing inward investment. I am starting to think that “discounting” is just the a small-time scapegoat who has taken the fall to protect its more culpable associates, such as “unutilised capacity,” or “poor marketing ROI.” What do you think?

Ok… so I should come clean at this point. I have never actually been to prison but I do watch a lot of movies. I have also never actually owned or operated a business in the backpacking industry during low season but I read a lot of Thumbrella.com.au.

So it is quite possible that my assumptions are an unfounded, ridiculous bunch of tripe! However what I most certainly am is a backpacker (I have even been living at various hostels over the past few weeks and am now making them my home). I am not at all ashamed to admit that I love a good discount! Why? Because Australia has to be the most beautiful place on earth, offering backpackers absolutely anything they could ever possibly want in a destination… and then some. But let’s face the fact that it’s bloody expensive! Even though it’s most certainly great value… ultimately, it is still expensive. At the end of the day I just want to maximise the amount of experiences I can have within the limits of my budget!

Shameful Plug:

Tonight is the official launch of a new website Brokepacker.com at The World Bar. It is a website that provides accommodation, activity, tour and transport providers in the Australian backpacking industry with an online marketing solution whereby they can list for free in exchange for providing a very ‘limited’ amount of their unutilised inventory to be sold to backpackers at a discounted rate, on a first come first serve basis. In other words we deal with “rational discounting.”

If that description isn’t vague enough…  here is a film that in no way, shape or form will better explain what Brokepacker.com is actually about:

I seem to spend a lot of my time defending backpackers to those who would label them drunken morons, bringing nothing but trouble to the communities in which they reside.

Hardly a week goes by when I’m not on the phone to some tabloid hack in search of a story (pot, kettle anyone?) explaining how young travellers take hard-to-fill jobs, then spend more than they earn, ploughing A$3.5 billion into the economy in 2009.

And then a couple of pissed-up passengers decide to jump off the Manly ferry and swim to the Opera House after a night on the sauce and all my hard work goes to waste.

Yes, we all do stupid things when we’ve had a few – I once jumped on to a tube line at London’s Victoria station to retrieve a cigarette and told the arresting officer I wasn’t prepared to accept a caution as he was “only nine years old”.

Fortunately, I was just one of many drunken loudmouths out in the capital that night, and the incident never made the news. I doubt Sydney’s idiot quota is any lower than London’s, but it’s a smaller city so these things tend to make a bigger splash (pardon the pun).

And actually, we don’t need the results of a poll to tell us that, just like any other, the backpacking community has its fair share of idiots. But that’s not going to stop the locals reading their newspapers this morning and concluding most of our customers are stupid.

Accommodation contacts in Sydney were telling me last week they were doing it tough, and the recent cold snap is hardly likely to have helped.

Another ash cloud panic in the UK combined with BA strike action has seen British travellers stranded for the second time in a month and, with world cup fever just around the corner, there are fears travellers will stay at home until their team is knocked out.

So don’t expect to see a Pom until after the final on July 12.

On the other hand, recruitment companies are reporting there’s plenty of work about, so the hope must be that some backpackers will stick the winter out in gainful employment rather than heading north in search of the sun.

Meanwhile, up in Cairns there’s still rumours of $12 beds and a discounting frenzy, but others are insisting yields are okay and it’s still possible to make money in Queensland’s party capital.

It’s all too confusing for this hack. What do you think?

Like most of the delegates I spoke to, I found the recent ATEC Backpacker and Youth Industry Conference extremely interesting and useful. It’s very easy in these current times to set a safe agenda to cater for an industry licking its wounds, who want to hear good news stories and see rainbows ahead.  

The problem is that the backpacking industry is at the sharp end of the current tech revolution (and customer evolution as a result) that is turning everything we understand upside down and making for a very difficult climate to work in. In five years we’ll be running off platforms that haven’t been invented yet – which makes future-proofing our businesses a little tricky.

We don’t have the luxury of being able to sit back and watch change happen elsewhere. Change hits us first – the average 16-year-old now uses their xBox games machine to chat to mates and swap info/advice while they do their homework and are used to being represented by/hiding behind an online profile. In two years time this will be our customer, and their purchase habits will be 100 per cent different from those of last year. Scary times indeed.

We need to be able to react as a unit to ensure that we all keep up, stick together (don’t lose too many stragglers unnecessarily) and adapt to the current climate. If we get it wrong it will hit us where it hurts, with arguably billions of dollars at stake.

Questions over the future of backpacker jobs in Australia, and the current problems of the weak pound, may already have caused changes to our sector that may be hard to reverse.

Should Australia lose the perceived ‘guaranteed certainty’ felt by backpackers globally that they will be able to find jobs to fund travel, numbers will fall. Combine this with being one of the more expensive destinations on a round-the-world trip and ‘days in country’ might also fall. Arguably, this safety net (guaranteed job/money/affordability) that has underpinned the industry over the years might be on the way out.

The ATEC agenda addressed all this in a very honest way, as only the Australians know how. That’s why the backpacking industry in Australia leads the way globally. You are the pulse we all watch to gauge the health of the current and future market. The conference also proved that there is abundant talent, passion, experience, innovation and entrepreneurial ability within the Australian backpacker sector, which is key to being able to keep ahead of your customers and also to attracting fresh blood – the youngsters who will be the industry’s innovators and leaders of the future.

In my role I get to see the global picture and have been involved in discussions about trying to pull all the strings of the global backpacker market together in an attempt to unify all parties and move forward as one. The global youth travel market is allegedly worth mopre than $150 billion. How can we deliver growth to over $200 billion or prevent a slide the other way? The only way to do it is to have honest evaluation by cutting industry apathy and developing in-country and cross-sector co-operation. You are the one country that is achieving this.

Tom Griffiths, founder, gapyear.com

Tourism Australia’s There’s nothing like Australia campaign website has started brilliantly.

Since the competition website (www.nothinglikeaustralia.com) opened on April 15, Australians have shown their enthusiasm for promoting their own country by uploading more than 8,000 images and words while almost 50,000 people have visited the site, staying an average of almost 10 minutes each!

The results so far reflect the fact that more than 80 per cent of Australians want to promote their country to the world. It is something the backpacker sector has known for so long – that word of mouth, social advocacy is the most powerful source in travel and tourism.

And just as the Australian public are getting involved in sharing their holiday experiences, we also want the Australian tourism industry to get behind the campaign to put their own tourism experiences on the map.

The interactive online map that will be unveiled at the end of next month on australia.com, and also at www.nothinglikeaustralia.com as part of our international campaign, will become the ultimate insiders’ guide to Australia. On May 31 during the Australian Tourism Exchange in Adelaide this interactive map will be part of the launch of the next phase of the campaign.

The experiences that make up the map will be searchable by experience type, location, and by 1,000 keywords. And for our tourism industry partners it is a really simple way of telling the world what they have to offer potential travellers through their tourism product or experience.

So far, coastal and nature based activities have been most popular accounting for more than half of the entries followed closely by Outback and City experiences. Also we have seen half of the entries so far come in from the states of New South Wales and Queensland. We know there are many more images and stories of Australian holidays out there yet to be told. And with only a few weeks remaining it is time to get cracking.

The other parts of the campaign will include broadcast ads (video), which are being shot all around Australia as we speak. And there will be magazine and newspaper advertising, and most importantly a toolkit for industry to use simply and well.

Apart from the campaign elements described above, the Facebook Australia fan page continues to grow with almost 400,000 people actively engaged.

The young independent traveller remains essential to Australia’s tourism success and we look forward to a continued strong relationship with the industry for best possible outcomes.

Lately there has been a concerted effort to push out the evil doing, backpacking “scum” from Potts Point together with various articles on your website and other media.  

Without pointing fingers at a group of five or six who are fanning the flames and secretly wishing Potts Point becomes another Woollahra or Point Piper, and the private interests of one or two car markets who want the trading business occurring on Victoria Street to be transferred to their premises, I would like to point out to you a few things which would be pertinent to keep in mind:

1. Buying and selling cars is not illegal.

2. Two of the larger backpacker hostels are in fact owned by car dealers or ex-dealers.

3. There is already “tow away” zones along Victoria Street (and having been on this street for about four years I am yet to see a car being towed away!)

4. Each and every backpackers brings in an estimated $7,000 per person into the local and interstate economy.

5. Backpackers do the jobs no one else wants, they clean out constructions sites, they serve you and I in bars and restaurants. They clean toilets and bathrooms. They care for our aged retirees and patients in hospitals. All in all for the most part they are hard working travellers.

6. Victoria Street is divided into two “parking zones” Area 23 (north of Orwell Street – I will call “Victoria St North”) and Area 26 (south of Orwell Street to Darlinghurst – “Victoria St South”)

7. Almost all the petitioners and those people who complain live and park in Area 23. Moving, fining or otherwise “banning” backpackers from Area 26 is not going to change the lifestyle or parking needs of Area 23 one iota.

8. Victoria Street South is home to about 1,000 backpackers in legitimately operated backpacker establishments. (And let’s not forget there is another 1,000 or 2,000 in both legitimate or illegal backpacker operations in Kings Cross, Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst)

9. Victoria Street South has a total of five residential blocks and various commercial terraces (offices) and bars, restaurants, cafes and other businesses all generating traffic, noise and “atmosphere”.

10. Not one of the commercial operations on Victoria Street is allowed a parking permit to park in Area 26 with parking only available to older residential buildings.

11. Victoria Street South is an income producing segment to both the City of Sydney through paying rates (and not receiving services such as garbage collection etc) and through the Office of State Revenue by way of land tax on commercial and investment properties.

12. Victoria Street North is mainly owner-occupiers and either tax exempt or receives various services from the city.

13. Almost all who live and work in Victoria Street moved to this street knowing full well that it is a backpackers area and “the back of the Cross”

14. Certain people who appear to look like young backpackers in their cars happen to be Australians from out bush out for a “big one in the Cross” and most if not all bodily excretions can be attributed to these types.

15. Backpacker operators do not support anyone living in their cars or vans, pissing or otherwise behaving badly on the streets. (It’s bad for business)

16. Backpacker operators know how to “gently” speak and persuade young Europeans “to do the right thing” and do so.

17. Gestapo tactics and oligarchic behaviour (both by the new police force commonly referred to as ‘city rangers’ and the local vigilantes) only serve to antagonise both business operators and backpackers alike and in return encourages revolt and childish behaviour.

18. The city has never held a meeting to discuss the issues which confront the community, or if they have they have seen it fit not to advertise it to business community and backpacker operators.

19. Coffee shops and hairdressing salons who band together to blame backpackers ought to re-evaluate their business models and product lines, perhaps as a humble suggestion all business ought to know the breakup and market segmentation of the foot traffic which has the potential to patronise their business and adjust accordingly. By way of example I would personally find it quite silly to order a $25 pasta dish only to have to go to get a burger to satisfy myself afterwards when most backpackers and travellers alike are accustomed or can only afford simpler and wallet friendly menus.

It is clear to me that the new money in Victoria Street would like to see a 100 year old tradition in this street “disappear”.

What is also clear to me is that a solution is required and the only way I can see it, from watching this street every single day for the past four years, is to separate the north and south of Victoria Street and enforce the rules on the north end by regular and persistent towing of cars and fining individuals who misbehave. (both local police and the rangers have powers to act on this).

A new improvement at the corner of Orwell Street and Victoria Street would address some if not most of the problems raised.

The new improvement would need to restrict traffic flow from South Victoria Street to North Victoria (emergency vehicles excepted – normal traffic can turn right from Victoria to Orwell) both Orwell street and Hughes Streets would more than adequately serve as connection routes to Darlinghurst Road.

By making the above change even more effective, 45 or 90 degree parking slots could be created to satisfy the insatiable parking appetite for local residents.

Together with a campaign to promote the parking structure and payment fees for the smaller more efficient cars and another campaign to persuade people in this street to be a bit more “civil and friendly” towards foreigners and tourists perhaps the sense of community can blossom.

I hope the above is helpful in understanding the Victoria Street issues.

Recent news of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, fatally and critically attacked Irishmen in Coogee, a disabled Canadian bashed with the pole from his own wheelchair and now a Scottish man forced to undergo brain surgery after getting bashed in Sydney has all been at the forefront of Australian media in only the last few months but I delved a little further to see if this news was travelling beyond our shores.

There’s no denying that once something is published online it’s pretty much accessible to the entire world but I conducted an experiment on Google last night seeing what happened when I typed “tourist bashed” into its global search engine, Google.com.

I was shocked to find that out of the 11 stories on the first page of the global Google search, ten were related to tourists being attacked in Australia, the other was in New Zealand. So I searched again with “tourist attacked”. The result, four out of nine. What about “backpacker attacked?” A whopping six out of seven news stories were related to Australian assaults on backpackers.

I assume Tourism Australia’s new campaign involving contributions from Australians will include a cross-section of racial backgrounds but is this enough to demonstrate Australia as a country with a cultural understanding? How can Tourism Australia’s new campaign combat Google’s search results?

As a kid – and still to some extent now – I perceive(d) the US as somewhere I would like to visit but somewhere I would be more concerned about my safety then perhaps if I travelled to the UK or Europe. I attribute this to the ‘bang, bang, shoot-em-up’ genre of films and TV shows that is dominated by the US that I watched growing up and so perhaps my concerns may be unfairly influenced.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of such films coming out of Australia what concerns me is the real stories of student and tourist bashings having a negative impact on future backpackers to this country. I don’t want my country to be perceived by the British version of me as “somewhere to think about safety” and perhaps choose an alternative destination because “I don’t want to spend my whole time worrying.” Perhaps I’m just paranoid but do we want to risk losing the business of those who just might share that same paranoia?

I realise the realists will simply say, “Nowhere is safe anymore and you have to be vigilant wherever you go” but Tourism Australia needs to act to ensure we aren’t perceived like the USA is perceived by some. It’s one thing to show off our magnificent coastline and spectacular outback but TA must reassure travellers there’s not pole-wielding thugs hiding in the bushes waiting to pounce.

With opinion polls suggesting it could be the most closely fought contest in a generation, there are already signs the campaign will degenerate into a slanging match with all the major parties slinging as much mud at each other as possible.

And in doing so, they will almost certainly further alienate young voters whose interest in mainstream politics has been in decline for some time.

Remember, this is a nation which believes in its citizens’ democratic right not to vote.

So, if you’re a marketer aiming to attract young Brits to Australia, you could do worse than use the next four weeks to remind them there is an alternative to listening to a bunch of pompous, puffed up middle-aged men and women hurling insults at each other.

What better time to tell young people to vote with their feet and head Down Under?

So far, so good. But to give the article some context – and because it was a big story relevant to our readership – we also had to report the original allegations.

Which is where things got tricky – because the harvest work contractor at the centre of the allegations operates East Bundy Backpackers, one of our regular advertisers.

We tried to get in contact with the hostel operators to get their side of the story, but were unable to do so prior to publication.

So we went ahead and published this piece…

Predictably, they weren’t happy when they saw it and promptly cancelled their advertising. And to be honest, I don’t blame them. If I spent money advertising my services in a magazine for backpackers, I wouldn’t be too happy to see a lot of negative publicity about my product on its news pages.

All we could say to placate them was that the article was drawn from a number of reports in the mainstream press, we did try to make contact prior to publication and we would be happy to publish their side of the story on Thumbrella and in TNT if they wish.

It would be great if they take up the offer, but I’m not holding my breath.

We try to work in partnership with our advertisers and distributors, but our first duty is to our readers. Sometimes this means we have to make difficult choices that are not always to our short-term commercial advantage. But, in the long run, backpackers know we are a credible source of information and are more likely to read the magazine (and therefore see and respond to the adverts).

We have even reprinted the “what you need to know” part of the article outlining workers’ rights, which will be laminated and distributed on all Oz Experience buses in the coming months.

I’m confident backpackers and advertisers will support us for doing the right thing. I hope so anyway – life can be lonely up here on the moral high ground.

Running the marketing of Australia must be one of the most thankless jobs in the world. Most of your 22 million stakeholders are going to have a view on your strategy, and of course feel entitled to express it. No wonder there’s been a long gap since “Where the bloody hell are you?” died.

Read more >>

Davis is an old aviation hand with a proven track record in running low-cost carriers. He knows passengers will put up with restrictions to carry-on luggage, over-priced in-flight snacks and shoddy arrival halls (have you flown Tiger to Melbourne lately?), as long as the flights themselves are cheap enough.

But the two things you can’t compromise on are safety and punctuality. Tiger has an excellent track record in the former,  but the latter? Not so good.

As the boss of UK no-frills airline Bmibaby, Davis said Rix had brought it “to the top position in the UK in terms of reliability and punctuality among low-cost carriers”.

I don’t know if the two have worked together before, but Davis was Bmibaby’s founding managing director in 2001 so it’s reasonable to assume he knows what Rix can do.

Anyone who has missed a business meeting waiting for their Tiger flight to take off will hope his faith is well-placed.

The takeover of Backpackers World Travel by Website Travel will not really affect our group, but many businesses (large and small) will be worried that such a large travel agency chain will now be able to force them into commercial terms that push their cost of business up.  

The backpacker industry, however, is not immune from general business forces and is no different to other sectors of tourism in that it will continue to consolidate to survive profitably.

Businesses will have to decide, as always, whether to play with the big agency groups and provide the terms necessary to make them profitable, or, if they cannot afford it, keep their businesses to a manageable size where they do not need such large distribution and customer volumes.

Larger backpacker businesses may invest more money to attract greater direct business through good e-commerce planning to ultimately average out their cost of securing business and balance commissions.

I would not be brazen enough to tell Peterpans/Website Travel CEO Matt McCourt how to run his business. Matt has obviously done a great job with the resurrection of Travelbugs, in addition to his other businesses, and knows a lot more about retail than I do. I assume he will use the same formula on a grander scale.

It is clear and acknowledged by the powers at BWT that their “back of house” was not efficient, whereas  the Website Travel system is, so straight away there will be savings there. If Matt can create the culture that BWT once had (and was beginning to revive) then it will continue to be a major force in the industry, and we as business owners will have to decide how we get our piece of the pie.

Matt’s challenge will be how he manages so many brands in the same market segment and if he can differentiate those to maximise his market share.

It is definitely big news for our industry and will be an interesting development. I wish Matt the best of luck with the inevitable challenge.