Well,
WE ARE STILL BREATHING HARD!!
The television advertising campaign has barely started and we have receiving LOTS OF NEW ACTIVITY through the website, emails and via the phone. Te talk on the street is very encouraging.
Pity the inclement weather has arrived with the NSW school holidays again!
BUT TODAY IS MAGIC!
With the whale season in full swing (or should that be swim?) today is a great opportunity to watch these beautifuland graceful creates go past if you can. It is fantastic that they time their migration to coincide with the school holidays on their journey north and then for their journey south they wait until the next school break.
This is not one of Tourism Ballina’s Initiatives….but………..
Remember if you haven’t seen the ad on TV then you can view it here through our website
Our second initiative of the promotional DVD is under way and should be available for release within a few weeks as well.
Now some additional information from the web, print media and Northern Rivers Tourism.
From Yesterday’s Northern Star.
Sunshine gives business that warm feeling
July 08, 2008
Enjoying the sun in Ballina were Simon and Tamsin Holloway, of Sydney with their two daughters Leia (left), and Skye
By MARY MANN
mary.mann@northernstar.com.au LEIA HOLLOWAY thought dangling a sand worm in her little sister’s face was an exciting way to start the school holidays.
But for Northern Rivers tourism operators it was the simple fact that the sun was out and the clouds were empty that had them jumping for joy.
Well, almost. As clouds loomed over Ballina and nine-year-old Leia and her family, of Sydney, threw a fishing line into the Richmond River, local business owners had their fingers crossed.
They hoped the little bit of sunshine to grace the town on the first day of the school holidays would stick around long enough for them to ‘make hay’.
“We love jumping in the waves at Ballina, even if it’s raining,” Leia said.
“And if it does rain mum said we can go to the movies or the library.”
But dad Simon Holloway wasn’t too optimistic about the weather forecast.
“It’s supposed to rain for the rest of the week … but that’s okay, we’re just glad it’s sunny now, while we catch some fish,” he said.
Gregg Miller, marketing manager for the Ramada Hotel and Suites at Ballina said the rain tended to put a dampener on tourist numbers in the region.
“But I’m not expecting this school break to be much quieter than previous years, it should hold fairly steadily,” Mr Miller said.
However, he said it would not be enough to make up for the dampening of business that tourism operators experienced during the recent Christmas and Easter breaks as a result of bad weather.
Northern Rivers Tourism CEO Russell Mills said rain was a fact of life, and while we could not control the weather, innovative tourism marketing could give tourists other reasons to come to the Northern Rivers.
“We have food outlets, galleries and weekend markets … reasons to come to the region that are not weather-dependent,” Mr Mills said.
Today’s Local ABC website
Rising fuel costs hurting Tweed tourism
Posted Tue Jul 8, 2008 10:40am AEST
The new boss of Tweed Tourism says rising fuel costs are causing a drop in the holiday drive market.
The organisation’s chairman, David Parrish, says operators are starting to offer discounts to lure tourists who use their cars to travel to the region.
He says the Tweed coast has a lot to offer, including new holiday resorts and attractions.
“Probably the biggest challenge at the moment is the problem we are having with fuel prices, because most of our market that comes to the Tweed drive of course,” he said.
“So we have seen numbers drop off a little bit over the last couple of months.”
Today’s SMH
Aussie tourism figures outstripped by world
July 8, 2008 – 11:53AM
World tourism growth continues to outstrip a stagnant Australian industry, new figures show.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures this week show inbound visitor arrivals grew just 0.8 per cent in May with 475,600 tourists, compared to the same month last year.
China (20.9 per cent) and India (20.5 per cent) recorded the biggest source market increases, followed by Malaysia (11.2 per cent).
However, other visitor markets declined over the same period, with Japan (18.2 per cent) and Korea (13.4 per cent) leading the list.
Tourism Transport Forum (TTF) general manager Olivia Wirth said the figures amounted to a measly 0.2 per cent growth in the first five months this year, compared with a worldwide growth of five per cent between January and April, recorded by the World Tourism Organisation.
Ms Wirth said it was an alarming trend at a time when Australians holidaying overseas had grown by nearly 11 per cent over the same period.
“The figures show that Australian tourism is being outpaced by the world,” Ms Wirth said.
She said the industry had a big job ahead of it to turn around the $85 billion industry.
It was hoped World Youth Day next week – which expects to draw 125,000 overseas visitors to Australia – could provide a shot in the arm for the industry in the short term and buoy figures for the second half of the year, she said.
AAP
Cheers for Now
Dave
Secretary Tourism Ballina Inc
