Cave Paintings found near Hamilton Island

A cave with drawings that could be thousands of years old, has been found in one of Australia's busiest waterways.

The cave was discovered by an Airlie Beach local and is on an island in the Whitsunday Passage. The local stumbled on to the cave a couple of days ago and immediately recognized the significance of his discovery. After taking a few photos, he left the cave undisturbed.

Local Elders and personnel from National Parks will be inspecting the site next Tuesday.

Out of respect for our traditional owners, we will not be disclosing the location, or releasing the photos, until we get the OK from the Elders.

ed: Goes to show you that the Whitsundays has still a lot of places where no 'European' has gone before.

New Disclosure Laws for Testimonials and Endorsements

New laws in the USA that come into force tomorrow will impact everyone who use Twitter, Facebook and MySpace and other Social Media services.

So why would these new laws have anything to do with us here in the Whitsundays and the rest of Australia? The 3 main reasons are:

1. Anyone posting to a service that has its servers (computers) based in the USA, must abide by these new Disclosure laws. The Big 3 of Social Networking are all based in California, USA - Twitter is based in San Francisco; FaceBook is based in Palo Alto, and MySpace is based in Los Angeles.

2. Any business that trades using a US based web host is deemed to be trading from within the USA. The fact that the website owner may be a foreign resident does not excuse her/him from the laws of the United States.

3. The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) entered into force on 1 January 2005. AUSFTA is a comprehensive agreement that includes telecommunications, competition-related matters, electronic commerce and intellectual property rights. Full text of the Agreement .

This is a good thing for consumers. While most webmasters are honest and sincerely present their products and services in their true form, some website developers and owners have been unethical with their marketing efforts. The new disclosure laws are designed to protect consumers from fraudulent practices, and those people who condone them, and to upgrade unethical practices from being 'a white lie' to an offence.

The goal of the new Laws are to keep marketers and website developers honest, which might seem like an easy task, but it's not that easy because we all have different ideas of what constitutes the whole truth in various situations, and in some marketing situations, it's literally impossible to know the whole truth or which truth to communicate where more than one truth is possible.

An excellent example of seeing two (2) sides to a Marketing story is our ongoing series on 'The Best Job in the World' campaign:
Do the Whitsundays deserve to hear both sides of a story?
Has the 'Worlds Best Job' increased awareness in your part of QLD?
Even the 'Best Idea in the World' can fail


"You must be transparent about your relationship with people providing endorsements or testimonials."

"Website Developers are subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsements, or for failing to disclose material connections between themselves and their endorsers. Endorsers also may be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements. The new laws require people who are known by the website developer and are endorsing their products to disclose the nature of the relationship."

"If there is a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience) - even in-kind compensation -then you must "fully" disclose the nature of the connection."
(Kevin E. Houchin - Lawyer and Author, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA ).

Let us look at an example of what will probably be illegal as from tomorrow.

The Facebook page for Boathaven Spa and Resort in Airlie Beach has some interesting 'reviews'. Boathaven Spa and Resort is part-owned by Kellie Medford, a Director of Tourism Whitsundays (TW), the semi-government Regional Tourism Organization (RTO) for the Whitsundays (Airlie Beach, Hamilton Island etc...); TW comes under the umbrella of Tourism Queensland.

Ms Medford claims to be the 'creator' of the Boathaven Spa and Resort's FaceBook page, where there are eight (8) referrals over the last eight (8) months.

The very first 'experience sharer' is a Lyn Gregson, who writes on March 23, 2009: Lyn Gregson "I have stayed at Boarhaven(sic) Spa & Resort and so have some of my staff, the accomodation(sic) is great and the location so convenient, I would recommend this property"

Seems innocent enough?

Well, this is why the new Disclosure and Transparency laws are coming in. Ms Gregson, who wrote the 'review', lives in Airlie Beach. At the time of writing the 'review', she was a Director and Chairperson of Tourism Whitsundays, of which Ms Medford is now a director of.

Ms Medford has a friendship with Ms Gregson, as you can tell from the first 'Friend' in her Facebook page. Ms Medford also displayed her friendship with Ms Gregson publicly recently, by defending her with correspondence sent to myself.

Ms Gregson in her 'review' allegedly fails to be transparent by not disclosing to you about her relationship with Ms Medford, that she actually lives in Airlie Beach, and that she was also Chairperson of Tourism Whitsundays.

A 'Megan' (no longer registered on Facebook) gave a glowing (and the longest) account of her stay at the 'resort' on March 28.

On March 27 2009 at 11.17am, Jackie Maxwell wrote: "What a place to stay. If you ever get the chance - you should."
However, Ms Maxwell fails to say that she too lives in Airlie Beach, and has a personal friendship with not only Ms Medford, but also Ms Gregson (see 'Friends of Jackie Maxwell's Facebook page).

On March 31 at 5:40am Anne McDonald, a neighbour wrote: "Hi I have not stayed at Boathaven resort but I live 2 doors away and I know people that have and like me the location is fantastic - opposite the new Port of Airlie - ok not finished yet - so if you have the opportunity to stay - call Kelli. Anne"

As Ms McDonald has pointed out, across the road from Boathaven Spa and Resort is the huge 'Port of Airlie' construction site. To put the size of this construction into perspective, I have included some stories from our local paper, the ABC, and the latest image from Google Earth - Boathaven Spa and Resort is shaded in yellow.

Hours changed at Port of Airlie | News -

Whitsunday Times - Jul 11, 2008
CONSTRUCTION hours on the Port of Airlie development have been changed following community concern about noise levels. Apartment owners and managers last ...

Port of Airlie noise respite looms

ABC Regional Online - ABC Regional Online - Sep 8, 2008
The developers of the Port of Airlie project says tourist operators will be given a break from noisy construction this school holidays. ...

While not all the Directors and Members of Tourism Whitsundays have colourful and creative descriptions of their private business concerns, Ms Gregson and Ms Medford are not alone. Other Directors of Tourism Whitsundays have had comments on public websites removed, because, well, they allegedly weren't thruthful.

One day, maybe, everyone will play by the rules on a level playing ground. The new FTC laws coming into effect tomorrow are a good start.

Whitsundays Online

You can complain about the behaviour of a Tourism Whitsundays member. Apparently, a TW member will be dismissed if they have failed to abide by TW Rules three (3) times. The TW website says it has a form for complaints, but I couldnt find it. Try contacting them direct.

I found at least four (4) sites on Facebook connected to Boathaven Spa and Resort".
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4

Sourced from:
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
United States Federal Trade Commission
Image from Whitsunday Times, October 1 2009, Front page.
Satellite image from Google Earth
Kevin E. Houchin - Lawyer and Author, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
joelcomm.com

Do the Whitsundays deserve to hear both sides of a story?

Whitsundays Online

@BenSouthall to @QLDWhitsundays
why are you always the bearer of doom and gloom?! The job is flippin awesome and I love it! Enjoy your day ok :)

Twitter message to me from 'Best Job in the World' winner / Hamilton Island Caretaker; Saturday 14 Nov 2009.

Good question Ben.

Prior to starting this Blog / News service, the news to and from the Whitsundays from the most popular media, appeared to be biased towards Tourism Whitsundays - in some articles, you could say the stories were 'very colourful and creative'.

After several years of reading and listening to the local media, I wondered why there was clearly some exaggeration in some articles and stories about TW and TW run events, so I did some digging around and found out why.

Almost every media outlet that services the Whitsundays was/is either on the board of directors of Tourism Whitsundays, or is a Member, or is supplying cheap advertising to TW and its 230 or so members.

There also appeared to be no attempt by these media services to alert the public that they have a vested interest in Tourism Whitsundays when reporting on Tourism Whitsundays news and events, or on a TW members own business.

In the Whitsundays, we have 3 weekly local papers. Two out of the 3 are heavily involved in TW:
The Guardian (Proserpine - one of the last truly independent papers);
Whitsunday Times (Coast and Islands - controlled by APN; Member of TW, MD of paper Director of TW until resigning very quietly a few months ago).
The Bowen Independent (Member of TW).

We also get 2 regional dailies. Both of these papers are linked back to Tourism Whitsundays:
The Townsville Bulletin (News Ltd - your sponsors through Sky);
The Mackay Daily Mercury (Associated with TW through Whitsunday Times).

We also have 2 TV News Bureaus within 150km of here, in Mackay. 1 of these is heavily involved in TW:
Prime - 7 Network (Member of TW);
WIN - 9 Network.

Tourism Whitsundays has also ensured it gets a favourable voice on almost all the commercial Radio stations:
SEA FM (Member of TW);
HOT FM (Member of TW);
4MK (Member of TW through Prime)
Zinc FM (Member of TW through Prime)

Thank goodness for the ABC.

This concentration of media sending out only one voice and opinion on Tourism Whitsundays events or news (TW's) reminded me of the old communist days, where only good stories were told, and all the bad ones were hushed up. (Your sponsors owner, Rupert Murdoch, I expect will be one of the first people to stand up and support a free press and 2nd, 3rd and more opinions.)

How would it be if our media here acted 'full on tourism mode' to every event and only reported 'the good news'? We would not be warned of impending Tsunami, Cyclone, Floods or Fires, because sending out news like that 'will turn the tourists away'.

In addition, I have never seen any of the media outlets that are involved with TW put in a disclaimer when they have reported on a TW event - leaving out this very important part of the story (aka conflict of interest) can mislead people into thinking that the story was reported by someone as a neutral observer, not as a business associate.

Behaviour like this is not dissimilar to getting paid to write a favourable review and not telling anyone - 'Cash for Comment'. It is unprofessional and unethical.

Your very important question today reminded me why I actually set this blog up in the first place - to present the other side of the story. No, I am not really the bearer of 'Doom & Gloom', but as I seem to be the one of the few who reports the stories that don't make it, then it may appear that all I am spreading is bad news.

Thanks for your question today - it has helped me realize that there may be some shortcomings in our local media, and that there may be a need to look at how cosy their relationships are with local organizations. I will ask a third party that specializes in these matters to consider looking at the media situation here a bit closer.

Ben, I'm sure it's a great job, and anyone in the world would have been proud to have won it; I have respect for the person, but I have trouble finding respect for the concept.

Has the 'Worlds Best Job' increased awareness in your part of QLD?

Whitsundays Online

Our story on the effectiveness of 'The Best Job in the World' (WBJ) campaign was read widely (many thanks to Mumbrella and others), not only amongst the advertising and marketing spin doctors, but also within the tourism and government departments here and around Australia and the world.

Cummins & Nitro invented the WBJ campaign in mid to late 2008, and released 'the beast' in mid January 2009. Since then, the campaign has won countless Australian and International awards, and of course the exposure that follows these awards.

My piece this week was critical that the campaign, while extremely successful getting 'pats on the back' from other marketing people, did not appear to be increasing awareness of the region outside of Hamilton Island. This 'awareness' can be gauged by looking at what people are searching for at Google.

The following charts detail:
*People around the world looking for Vacation / Travel information in Australia by location;
*The data is over 5 years;
*Compares interest in Hamilton Island to other popular QLD destinations;
*The most popular countries from where these surfers are from;
*Click each chart to blow up and/or print.

Here is how WWW interest in Hamilton Island has compared to other Whitsundays destinations:

This chart compares WWW interest in Hamilton Island to other well known Tropical North destinations Cooktown, Port Douglas, Cairns and Townsville:

This chart compares WWW interest in Hamilton Island to Mackay, Brampton Island, Yeppoon and Great Keppel Island:

WWW interest in Hamilton Island compared to Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Hervey Bay and Sunshine Coast:

This chart compares WWW interest in Hamilton Island to Toowoomba, Dalby and Birdsville:


WWW interest in Hamilton Island compared to Emerald, Longreach, Winton and Mt Isa:


WWW interest in Hamilton Island compared to Kuranda, Charters Towers, Rockhampton and Childers:


WWW interest in Hamilton Island compared to Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast and Hinterland:


WWW interest in Hamilton Island compared to Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday, Whitsundays and Queensland:
The 'Next Best Idea in the World' of tourism marketing appears to be a shopping spree. Our last graph shows people around the world looking to spend time in Australia at Resorts, Sailing, Diving, and doing Shopping:

Chalco postpones Bowen Alumina Refinery indefinitely

Whitsundays Online

Chalco has postponed its decision on the A$2.2 billion alumina refinery in Bowen because there is still uncertainty in the market, The Australian and Bloomberg are reporting, citing the company.

The decision on developing the Bowen refinery was due last month, and now won’t be made this year, the The Australian said, citing Dan Foo, head of the Aurukun Bauxite mine study, the feeder to the refinery.

The Australian quoted Mr Foo; "It may take some years for the alumina market to recover to levels it was at before the global financial crisis."

So, will this have an effect on the 'going price' of the Abbot Point Terminal?

Sourced from Bloomberg and The Australian
Map

Even the 'Best Idea in the World' can fail

Whitsundays Online

Great ideas have come and gone over history - some have gone on to improve mankind; others to make life simpler or more complicated; and others we thought were sure to succeed, but just didn't live up to expectations.

The current Queensland Tourism campaign, 'The World's Best Job' (WBJ), has won almost every award for Marketing and Advertising, in Australia and Overseas. The other big winner has been Hamilton Island, owned by the Oatley Family. However, the results have yet to bear fruit for the rest of 'The Big Island' (the Whitsundays and Queensland).

Media reports out today are calling the WBJ campaign '... a Tourism Lemon' (Brisbane Times), and 'Best Job Campaign Fails ...' (Sydney Morning Herald). Google have an excellent statistics service that lets you see how people around the world have searched in the past, so I thought a bit more research into the 'old media' claims was required.

The WBJ campaign has been running for 1 month shy of a year, and while it has been successful in raising awareness of an island in the middle of the Whitsundays, that awareness seems to have 'missed the boat' to the mainland and other islands.

The following graph shows people around the world looking for News Articles' about Hamilton Island, Whitsunday & Whitsundays for 2008-2009 - note the spike when the World's Best Job (WBJ) was announced:
The most well known spot on the mainland in the Whitsundays is Airlie Beach. The following graph compares 'Searches for News Articles' about Hamilton Island & Airlie Beach for 2008-2009:
It is quite obvious from the above 2 graphs, that while interest in Hamilton Island has soared, there has been no noticeable increase in interest in Airlie Beach or the rest of the Whitsundays.

The above results looked 'way over the top', so I thought I should check how many people were looking for information (rather than news). The following graph shows people around the world looking for information about Hamilton Island, Whitsunday & Whitsundays for 2009:


The following graph compares people around the world looking for information about Hamilton Island & Airlie Beach for 2009:The above graphs again show interest in Hamilton Island because of WBJ, but no apparent increase in interest in the rest of the Whitsundays.

The above graphs show a trend that tourism numbers in the Whitsundays (except Hamilton Island) are probably not going to improve for the next 12 months. This can be corroborated by the following graph:
The Whitsundays experienced a drop in tourism numbers of 33% from July 2007 to July 2009. The above graph shows people searching for information about Whitsunday and Whitsundays over the past 5 years - it seems to closely predict tourism numbers to the Whitsundays about 1 year in advance.

It is quite obvious that from mid 2006 that we were about to experience a prolonged downturn in visitor numbers. The WBJ campaign, while not increasing interest in our region, appears to have at least stopped the slide downwards'.

Note - the bottom of the last graph also shows 'News Volume' - this is how many news agencies reported an event. You may notice the largest spike in May 2008 - this was when 2 UK divers were left out at the Reef. 3 times more news agencies picked up on that event than have covered the WBJ. If the publicity surrounding the WBJ is worth around $380 million, then theoretically, OzSail leaving 2 divers out at the reef cost us over $1 Billion dollars in bad publicity (they were fined $30,000).

So, why did the 'Best Job in the World' campaign win all those awards, when there appears to be no benefit for the rest of the Whitsundays, and probably Queensland?

Great campaigns and commercials have won awards in the past and failed to produce results, and once again the marketing people will surely come back tomorrow and say the WBJ Campaign has won 'so many of these' awards.

Sure, a unique marketing idea or campaign can be great, but isn't it also supposed to be successful?

MORE INFO & UPDATES
13 Nov 2009 - How has the awareness for the rest of QLD been raised by the Campaign?
Oct 14, 2005 - Cummins & Partners picks up Whitsundays business
14 Nov 2009 - Update
Related Story - The writing was on the wall in April 2009
More at Sydney Morning Herald - 'I wish you were here'
Brisbane Times - 'Best job campaign a tourism lemon'
Whitsundays Online - Tourism Trends and Comparisons
CDNN - Tourism QLD's Best Job in the World campaign flops
mUMBRELLA - Best Job's (very long) glory list
Is Queensland 'Best Job in the World' Really the Worst - Jaunted

Push for Daily Morning flight to Brisbane

Whitsundays Online

Tourism Whitsundays is about to start lobbying the airlines for a daily morning flight in and out of the Whitsundays.

Currently, Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) is serviced by 2 daily flights to and from Brisbane: Virgin Blue arrives at 2.20pm and Jetstar at 6.20pm.

Anyone wishing to travel to Brisbane in the morning must drive 2 hours to Mackay to catch the 6am prop-jet, which means having to get up at around 3.00am, and then setting off along the Bruce Highway before dawn.

Tourism Whitsundays will commence surveying passengers to see if there is a strong case for a morning flight in and out of the Whitsundays.

An interesting concept would be a morning flight from Proserpine to Brisbane, maybe via Hamilton Island. (Rex currently do a similar route on the NSW South Coast with their Moruya - Merimbula - Sydney service).

We pre-empted Tourism Whitsundays' intentions several weeks ago and asked the 'newcomer' airline to Mackay, Regional Express (Rex), if they were considering services to Proserpine, especially a morning commuter flight.

On 16 October this year, Charlene Liang of Rex's Corporate Communications Team said "There are no network expansion plans currently being considered and this will be assessed further during 2009/2010 along with a number of commercial and economic considerations. The global economic landscape is extremely volatile and Rex is therefore exercising some cautious conservatism at the present time."

ed: I have to agree with Peter O'Reilly that driving 2 hours, firstly in darkness, then straight into a rising sun, is not a smart or safe way to do business in Brisbane or interstate, but we have no other option except to leave the night before. I personally have done this 'run' about a dozen times, and have missed the flights several times due to either hitting a kangaroo, or the road closed due to a serious accident or floods.

Sourced from ABC North QLD News - Melissa Maddison