The Blame Game continues . . .The continuing slide downward in visitor numbers to the Whitsundays is now getting blamed on Wotif and the airlines, according to several directors of Tourism Whitsundays.
On the 7 January 2010, the Whitsunday Times published on its front page a story (no author attributed), headlined 'Flight costs cause concern'. It is interesting to note that the only people 'interviewed' in this 'major' article are all Directors on the Board of Tourism Whitsundays.
Firstly, to put this story in perspective, we should tell you that while Peter O'Reilly has disclosed that his occupation is the CEO of TW, the story does not reveal that Kelli Medford and Jeff Aquilina are also Directors on the Board of Tourism Whitsundays.
We do not know why the article fails to mention this, considering the GM of the Whitsunday Times (Jim Shervington) was a director of TW, until his very quiet resignation mid term last year (not announced in his own paper). While Mr Shervington was on the TW board, Jeff Aquilina was (and still is) the Treasurer of TW, even during the time an employee stole over $300,000 not so long ago.
In the article, Ms Medford complains about issues hampering her ability to raise her occupancy at her Boathaven Resort. The 'culprits' include Wotif; Too much competition; Virgin Blue; Jetstar and Qantas.
In the article, Ms Medford 'tried to book her own family members on a flight from Sydney to the Whitsundays and the cheapest return flight she could find for January was $500'. (I too tried on 18 December for a flight to Sydney for Xmas and one way tickets were quoted from $350, but this is usual at this time of year).
But hang on - Ari Sharp, who writes for the Travel sections of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age wrote a story just seven days later saying that Domestic Airfares are at a record low.
Of course airline tickets are expensive during the Christmas period - it's peak holiday time. (I have purchased a ticket from Proserpine to Sydney in late February and it cost less than $100). Considering Ms Medford has been in the Whitsundays Tourism industry for over 13 years, you would think she would know by now that Christmas is the most expensive period for air travel.
The airlines aren't the only one's to get a blasting by Ms Medford - she also blames Wotif, an accommodation search engine. Apparently everything was OK in Airlie Beach when Wotif only offered 30 accommodation houses, but now she says she is competing against 45 businesses*.
According to Peter O'Reilly, CEO of Tourism Whitsundays, another 700 rooms (an increase of 50%) will be available this year in an already over supplied Airlie Beach.
There are many more accommodation choices in the Whitsundays than there were a couple of years ago, however almost all this accommodation is 4.5-5 star, often out of reach for middle class families. A lot of Family and Backpacker accommodation in Airlie Beach disappeared in the last 3 years to:
Property development (now Ms Medford's new competition);
Purchased by building companies for staff accommodation;
Converted to 'Long Stay' for Contractors;
Now supplying to the shrinking Backpacker market.
Ms Medford has in the past put the blame on other factors on why tourism numbers to the Whitsundays are down - "drop in flight numbers, economy, massive weather patterns, lack of unity amongst operators" (full correspondence here).
I am not the only one in town who feels that the time to stop blaming someone else is now. In this weeks (14 Jan 2010) 'Letters to the Editor', Whitsunday Times, well known local Dennis Mundle wrote:
Blame Game
It is interesting to note that on the front page of last week's Whitsunday Times, the airlines are being blamed for, and expected to solve, the problem of the over supply of holiday accommodation in Airlie Beach even if it means losing them money.
If the passenger demand and commercial viability of flights to the Whitsundays warranted it, the airlines would have more flights here ASAP.
As usual there is always someone else to blame.
Dennis Mundle
JUBILEE POCKET
World's Best Hangover - Did the campaign focus too much on Hamilton Island?
Hamilton Island has done very well out of the World's Best Job campaign - while the mainland continues to see plummeting visitor numbers, Hamilton Island's CEO, Glenn Bourke says Hamilton Island has had its best 12 months ever - UK & Irish visitors up 19% compared to last November."
If Hamilton Island is getting record numbers, and overall numbers for the region are down 19%, then you've got to think that maybe Airlie Beach's visitor numbers could be down as much as 30% or even 40%.
Airlie Beach used to be the economical alternative to the islands. The lack of family and backpacking guests to Airlie Beach has not only affected the accommodation occupancy, but the flow on effects are hitting long time residents as well:
the local artists; food & beverage staff; deckhands, real estate agents, property owners, suppliers, maintenance firms . . .
When 'The Crowd' at Tourism Whitsundays (TW represents less than 10% of businesses registered in the Whitsundays) stops blaming others and starts to co-operate with the silent majority, instead of acting like a private club, then maybe, just maybe, the situation will improve.
Facts
Total tourism numbers down 33% in the Whitsundays 2 years ending July 2009.
Domestic tourism numbers down 16% in the Whitsundays year ending Sept 2009.
There are 3,321 businesses (2006) registered in the Whitsundays, and less than 250 members in TW.
*2 Jan 2010 Mackay Daily Mercury - Tourism Whitsundays CEO Peter O’Reilly said 700 new rooms were expected to come online in Airlie Beach this year, an increase of about 50 per cent.
Disclaimer
The writer part owns a resort on the NSW North Coast. Last year ending September, the occupancy year round was 92%, up from 86% the year prior. The closest airport serviced by Jetstar and Virgin Blue is over 1 hours drive away.
FOOTNOTE 17 February 2010. Peter O'Reilly confirmed that retail spending over the 2009/10 period dropped 21% - source Whitsunday Times
Sourced from
Channel Whitsunday
Whitsunday Times
Fairfax Travel
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Travel Daily UK
Mackay Daily Mercury
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