|
|
During
the past week, we have received a number of emails from you, our
readers who expressed their opinions on some of our articles.
Below
are some statements regarding those articles. Click on the link
or scroll down to read the comments.
|
............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"'Bloody' tourism ad campaign rattles MPs"
|
I have been in the Australian tourism sector for 30 years and I believe it will be taken offensively by the Asian market. They will not understand the tongue in cheek slang, at all.
I would prefer to see: "Come, see and experience a million wonders Down Under". My fee would have been half the one Im sure they paid.
posted by: Chris Bright from Bright Tourism Consulting
|
The ads are misguided and confirm our crass, unsophisticated culture. We have to live with it in Australia but why export it and confirm the world's view that we are unsophisticated rednecks. If Tourism Australia thinks this is going to create a ground swell of tourism then we are in trouble! Lets move on from the ocker image we have so carefully nurtured for decades, we aren't impressing anyone. Australia attracts 5.2 million international tourists, France, 75 million....think about it!!!!
posted by: B.Graham from Pilot
|
On this topic I agree with John Howard. How culturally insensitive we are. This ad is going all around the world. It's about time the marketing of Australia as a destination was undertaken in a professional and culturally sensitive way.
posted by: Frances Cassidy from The Travel Tailor
|
I would like to congratulate Tourism Australia on bringing Barry Crocker out of retirement. I mean, who else but Barry Crocker could have come up with this fantastic slogan. One can only assume it didn't actually cost anything......Did it?
posted by: David from Travelscene Tweed Valley
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Bali security pushed harder than ever
"
|
As someone who lives in Bali I would like to congratulate the Balinese police and other agencies for the VERY obvious and effective work that is taking place on our beautiful island to regain the confidence of the travelling and visiting public.
These initiatives have got TEETH and are already providing very visible evidence of the commitment being made by so many.
WELL DONE EVERYONE - Bali is coming back!
posted by: Ross Smith from Bali Villa Living
|
Sorry, but I'm not convinced by these half-hearted measures that the bombings will stop if Australians and other westerners decide to return. For instance, what good will surveillance do to stop a suicide bomber? The last time it WAS recorded by someone with a mobile phone. What a lot of good that did! And what good is a hotline? Does this mean they do not have an emergency number in existence right now to call the police?
Pak Gede Nuraya...your Government doesn't seem to understand what needs to be done, and I would say you would be feeling fairly frustrated by now, hence the desperate half-hearted summit. They need to show they are really serious about tackling the terrorist groups at the grass roots level.
Instead they give pardons and reduce sentences of those found guilty. Just look at Bashir's case. Who's got who wound around their little finger?
You mentioned that the Bali Security Council aims to bring coordination from police, military and various intelligence agencies together under the one umbrella. Why hasn't this happened already? How many more bombings is it going to take before they get serious?
Most of us are just shaking our heads in disbelief and hear nothing but words and little action.
When is the death penalty going to be carried out on Amrozi? Wasn't this supposed to be done in March of last year?
Can you really stop vehicles from going within 50m of a hotel or street markets in, say, the Kuta area?
There are plenty of other soft targets in other areas.
I love Bali and the Balinese people, but until the Government shows the rest of the world they are serious about banning various groups and outlawing the selling of bomb making ingredients you will never get me back there again.
posted by: Hans De ville from Fab Travel deals
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"EU Court Adviser suggests upholding BA fine"
|
Tell me something I don't know. Airlines have been doing this for years. Call it what you will, incentives, rebates, overrides. At least they are giving agents something.
It's called loyalty. They recognise that travel agents are a great distribution network and reward them accordingly.
Wouldn't that be great if it happened in Australia!
posted by: Patrick Sandford from Travelscene American Express
|
What a load of garbage. Is this not what preferred supplier agreements are all about? Support your preferred suppliers, and they support you in return? As far as a victory for BA's arch rival Virgin Atlantic, I remember not so long ago when they put a deal in the local market for a SYD/HKG RTN fare that was unavailable to anyone else but the "Captain's" group, which obviously gave them a clear advantage over all agents with an offering of either extra commission or a nett deal that no one else could get anywhere near to.
They were also quite upfront when challenged, that it was an exclusive deal. How dare they challenge BA for trying to hold onto their market share? Obviously Virgin expects loyalty and of course SALES in return when they throw around a deal. Airlines in general need to get real in current times.
If they want loyalty and support from agents, they need to realise that we too also need to make a living. I understand in business that every player needs to make a profit; but I do not know any other industry where a principal actively pursues direct sales in direct competition to their customers.
And may we remind all airlines, that we are indeed their customers. Agents are responsible for putting bums on seats; it does not take much sometimes to sway a customer from one airline to another. I think all agents should be paid accordingly for their support. When was the last time when anyone saw Sony or NEC pushing direct sales over Harvey Norman, Myer or David Jones?
posted by: Anonymous
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Internet middlemen become lonely"
|
The last time I checked, totaltravel.com wasn't a registered charity. So they have to be making their money some way. We know that they don't charge the consumer (you can use their site for free) so they must be hitting the supplier - either by charging them a subscription for participating in their listing, and/or by charging the supplier a fee every time a consumer "clicks through" to their supplier site from totaltravel.com. So a supplier has to figure this overhead into their end pricing.
So it's misleading for Paul to state that consumers are getting a "better deal" by going through totaltravel.com than they would by going through what he calls "middlemen" like hotelclub, quickbeds, travelthere, lastminute, ratestogo, wotif, webjet, octopustravel etc. These sites do an excellent job in presenting consumers with a single-screen uncluttered menu of discounted options to choose from, rather than having to click through from a referral site like totaltravel.
posted by: David Saunders
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Australians want Qantas to stay local: poll"
|
Personally I do not care where Qantas get their maintenance done. As long as the people who are performing the maintenance do a good job and do not compromise the safety of their aircraft. No amount of whinging will change Geoff's mind on saving the almighty dollar when it comes to cutting costs.
We still call Australia home.........yea right!!
posted by: Patrick Sandford from Travelscene American Express
|
KEEP JOBS LOCAL
posted by: Tod Collins from Travelscene Echuca
|
I agree that maintenance work should remain in Australia as SAFETY is one of the hallmarks of Qantas' success - Australians like to travel in the comfort of knowing the aircraft are safe and well maintained by qualified trades people whereas we don't know the capabilities of 'anybodies' overseas. Airlines in Asia don't necessarily have a glowing safety record.
posted by: Helen Wallace from Harvey World Travel Burleigh Heads
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Deluxe suite, tub views"
|
Only the Americans!!!
posted by: Joe Adams from Travelworld - Norfolk Island
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Flight Centres flying high again"
|
Hits & profitability DON'T go hand in hand and are not related!
posted by: Michael Anderson from CAPITAL TRAVEL
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
"Qantas Holidays restructure hits employees"
|
Isn't this typical Qantas stuff from Bernardi? "We target the positions, not the people". So what he means is we'll dump our most experienced staff so that when their new systems prove to be a total flop they'll have nobody left qualified to put things back together.
If they're going to target positions I'd suggest they start with the airlines CEO, and work their way down from there.
posted by: John Gercken from Northside Business Travel
|
|
| ............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
|
