Nearly 200 guests enjoyed the dinner which saw Wildlife Tours win the best Australian tour operator and Bunk, Surfers Paradise win best Hostel in Australia. Gold Coast won the best destination for the first time and The Great Barrier Reef, won best visitor attraction for the third successive Year.

There were also winners from New Zealand, with Queenstown picking up the Best Destination and Franz Josef Glacier winning best activity.

There were two winners in the accommodation and Tour/Activity categories. Due to the large number of entries and subsequent number if votes, the organisers were able to award winners as both large and smaller operators.

Kevin Ellis, organiser of the week said “Its great to see the Queensland operators get involved on such a level and we hope it inspires businesses, in other regional areas to get involved, then we can start to increase the number of winners in the other categories too.”

AJ Hackett received the lifetime achievement award for his pioneering work in bringing Bungy jumping to the southern hemisphere and for 30 years of running AJ Hackett Bungy.

A full list of winners can be found here.

Lifetime Achievement Award – AJ Hackett

Best Accommodation NSW – Bounce

Best Accommodation NT – Melaleuca On Mitchell

Best Accommodation QLD – Bunk Surfers Paradise (Large) Mooloolaba Backpackers (small)

Best Accommodation SA – Port Lincoln YHA

Best Accommodation TAS – Pickled Frog

Best Accommodation VIC – Greenhouse Backpackers

Best Accommodation WA – Billabong Backpackers Resort

Best Accommodation NZ – Pacific Lodge

BEST ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA – Bunk Surfers Paradise

Best Tour/Activity NSW – Skydive Australia

Best Tour/Activity NT – The Rock Tour

Best Tour/Activity QLD – AJ Hackett (large) Drop Bear Adventures (small)

Best Tour/Activity SA – Groovy Grape

Best Tour/Activity TAS – Jump Tours

Best Tour Activity VIC – Wildlife Adventures

Best Tour/Activity WA – Adventure Tours

Best Tour/Activity NZ – Kiwi Experience

BEST TOUR/ACTIVITY AUSTRALIA – Wildlife Adventures

Best Campervan NZ – Spaceships

Best Cultural Experience – Tamaki Maori Village

Best Transport NZ – Kiwi Experience

Best Travel agent NZ – Peter Pans

Best destination NZ – Queenstown

Best Visitor Attraction NZ – Franz Josef Glacier

Best Backpacker Night NZ – Big Night Out

Best Online Travel Agent – Backpackerdeals.com

Best Small/independent Travel Agent – One Stop Adventures

Best Large Travel Agent – Peter Pans

Best Campervan Australia – Jucy

Best Transport – Greyhound

Best Holiday Park Aus – Bungalow Bay

Best Backpacker Night – Wicked Club Crawl

Best Technology – Travello

Best Visitor Attraction – Great Barrier Reef

Best Destination – Gold Coast

Tickets can still be purchased for the event at $249+gst Click Here to get your ticket to ABIC

The digital dilemma: an online labyrinth

The speed with which the digital age has engulfed the travel industry has been nothing short of breathtaking. Online booking and ticketing have become the natural concluding phases of online promotion, online destination choice, online quality judgements and just about online everything else.
For the travel operator, the choice to dodge digital is now all but non-existent but has left in its absence a labyrinthine multiplicity of new decisions to make. Which platform to choose? Or should that be platforms? How to differentiate between the good, the mediocre and the downright dire? And how to stop the rot setting by succumbing to the easy temptations of inertia

The do’s and don’ts of digital marketing

Modern day marketing? Easy. No more annoying advertising reps, pr spinners or expensive show stands. Just find someone on the staff who is IT savvy to tap into a website template, open Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts then set about tweeting, posting, liking and lol-ing to your heart’s content. The business will simply flow in. Or will it? No. And when it doesn’t, a clamour of so-called social media experts will queue up tell you where you are going wrong, what’s silly about your site and, for a hefty price, put you on the path to hashtag heaven.
If it doesn’t work like that, how does it work?

Tourism Australia Update

ABiC partner Tourism Australia appears to be on track to exceed its annual target of $115 billion in overnight tourist spend by 2020. But how important is adventure travel and backpacking among the Australian Government agency’s array of 16 key markets? And how, specifically, is it deploying its advertising, PR and media muscle, trade shows, industry programs, consumer promotions, online communications and consumer research to help our particular industry sector?

Regional Updates – RTO’s have been invited to present a quick are a update to the conference.

How sticky is the economic wicket?

Everyone knows that the fate of the tourism industry (and youth-fuelled adventure tourism in particular) depends on the economy. And on predicting with some certainty the state of the economic wicket the industry is going to have to bat and bowl on.
Sharing his thoughts on the matter, ABiC presents the man Bloomberg News rated the “world’s most accurate currency forecaster”.
Clifford Bennett has 25 years experience as an investment banker and media pundit. He is
author of “Warrior Trading” and acclaimed for calling the market via insightful macro economic and financial market forecasts.

Demistifying visa and tax tangles

Holidaymaker? Student? Worker? From the UK (417) or the USA (462)? Tax due at 15% or 32.5%? Under 30 or over 30? Voluntary worker? Farm worker? Here for 12 months or 24 months?
We will unravel a confusion of visa and tax tangles so that you can confidently provide your backpacker customers with accurate and up to date advice.

Meeting the millennials

There’s plenty of data available about who visits Australia when and for how long (and we’ll summarise the latest numbers for you) but less about their aspirations, experiences, how they are influenced or what Australia needs to do to meet and exceed their expectations. ABiC has conducted some new research – Meeting the Millennials – to be unveiled at the conference. It looks at matters like booking habits, work experiences, attitudes to visas and taxes, money matters, accommodation reviews, the highs and lows, the must do’s and the avoid-at-all-costs, and ranks Australia’s must-see destinations from top to bottom. We will analyse this new work and use the findings as the catalyst for subsequent round table break outs, discussion and resolutions to the questions it raises.

A number of big name tourism businesses have put themselves into the frame to be part of the bid process which will also include the incumbent “Bridge Climb Sydney” business which was set up by entrepreneur, Paul Cave.

Blue Mountains’ Scenic World, Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure and the operators of Luna Park are among around a dozen companies involved which will also include tourism heavyweight Merlin Entertainments, which is one of the world’s largest operator of theme parks, second only to Disney!

Whilst no infoamrion has been released by the RMS and the bidders (they are all under an NDA) the bids will be restricted in terms of what “attractions” can be offered as there are very strict security and safety guidelines around the Bridge.

Bridge Climb Sydney’s contract runs out next September when the next contract will take effect and it has been suggested the next tenure will be for the next 20 years.

AWA have been operating four touring brands for the various styles of travel they offer for the past 3 years. But with a goal to simplify the selling and purchasing process for agents and consumers alike, they have deleted two of those brands and now Xplore Eyre caters to the mid to high end markets, with three distinct touring styles on offer.
This has been topped off with a fresh new website, brand and tagline – “Journeys to Wild Places”.

Those familiar with Xplore Eyre will notice some major changes including seven new tour itineraries throughout South Australia and Western Australia including Kangaroo Island, The Flinders Ranges, The Eyre Peninsula, Esperance and the 9-day Great Australian Wilderness Journey between Adelaide and Perth. All tours now have scheduled departures and depart Adelaide or Perth with flight components included.

“We’ve been in this business for 14 years now and invested a lot of time attending trade shows domestically and internationally, promoting the regions we call ‘our backyard’. I’m pleased to say in the past few years we are finally starting to notice an increased demand for small group and private tours as well as group charters.” said Director Craig ‘Hassie’ Haslam.

With South Australia recently named as the 5th Best Region in the world at ‘Lonely Planet’s 2017 Travel Awards’, and a restructure and more funding to the South Australian Tourism Commission,
“We are hoping to see numbers continuing to increase”, continued ‘Hassie’.

Along with Anna Heaton, who joined the business in 2016, Jason Westwood, formerly of Mulga’s Adventures has joined the business as Operations & Sales Manager. In addition to new personnel, a new depot in Adelaide now means more efficient operations for the business.

Hassie finished by saying, “For the first time ever my wife and I have a management team to share the load with, which will give me more time to lock in strategic training with inbound partners and head overseas to focus on “spreading the word” with our international wholesale partners”.

Good Luck Hassie and the team.

This will create Asia Pacific’s largest and most expansive Flexible Adventure Travel Network with operations across the East Coast of Australia, New Zealand and five countries in Southeast Asia.

Stray and Loka already share a similar operating model and ethos. They are at the forefront of adventure travel designing authentic, cultural and nature-based experiences across their respective regions. Both specialise in a style of ‘hop-on hop-off’ travel, which offers their customers all the benefits of a guided tour along with the flexibility to hop-off and spend extra time at destinations en-route. This operating model not only delights its customers but also aligns closely with the respective Tourism Boards’ objectives by encouraging tourism to the remote areas.

For the foreseeable future Loka will continue to operate under the Loka brand but will be integrated from an operational and marketing perspective into Stray’s wider portfolio.

Neil Geddes, founder and director of Loka said “It is amazing to be working with Stray and to be part of the ‘orange’ family again. This investment will provide the resources to continue our journey to provide the best experiential trip in Australia”.

Brett Hudson, CEO from Stray said “The deal is extremely exciting as it brings together a huge wealth of experience from both management teams to create a strong and highly dynamic business.”

After Skydive Australia’s recent acquistion, this is the second significant acquisition in the sector in the same number of months, BTN expects there will almost certainly be a few more before the year is out.

The voting will run until October 8th 2017,

With a new and improved voting system in place this year to reduce the number of unverified votes which is working well, there are a few technical glitches which are being investigated and amended. If you have any queries regarding the voting please email the dedicated inbox for the awards votes@tntmagazine.com

The awards are again set to be the biggest and best yet and will return to Skypoint Tower on November 9th

The event will be a sell out so don’t delay in getting your ticket!

An individual ticket is $279+gst
A half table (5 people) is $1250+gst
A full table (10 people) is $2275+gst

To book your tickets CLICK HERE

With attendance averaging at around 135-150 delegates over the last 3 years it gives attendees the opportunity to meet and network formally with all of these companies over the 2 sessions.

With appointments scheduled at 15 minutes it gives the businesses the opportunity to introduce and pitch to as many companies as they can. The formal networking is followed by some informal networking in the bar afterwards and also an exclusive social function on the Wednesday evening.

With a number of agents already confirmed for the event this is a great opportunity for tourism and accommodation businesses of all sizes to be part of these events and benefit from being able to meet and network with all these companies in one place.

Confirmed attendees so far;

Backpacker World Travel, Base, Backpackerdeals.com.au, Gilligan’s, Georgie’s Getaway, Nomads, One Stop Adventures, Peter Pans, Tournado.com (all agents)

Gold Coast Tourism, Tourism Australia, Website Travel, Rezdy, Junction 6, THL, Adventure Tours, Get Lost Travel, Tourism Noosa, Cooee Traveller, Friendly Group, Whitsunday Sailing Adventures, Visit Oz, Wayoutback, Under Down Under, Bridge Climb Sydney, The Rock Tour, Travello, Crocosaurus Cove, Rainforest Spirit, Jucy, Ocean Rafting, ICEF

Get more than a year’s worth of networking done over two 4 hour sessions, a great opportunity to make new connections and reaffirm old ones. It also provides a unique platform to develop and collaborate with industry partners from all over Australia and New Zealand

A ticket for both sessions is ONLY $349+gst
A ticket for the single session (Wednesday or Thursday) is $249+gst

To book your place at ITE Click Here

Make the most of your time in the Gold Coast and attend the AbiC Conference and the Golden Backpack Awards, plus the other social events that are happening, by purchasing a multi event ticket for $799+gst

To book a multi event ticket click here

The conference programme is still being finalised but will include and cover the key topics of the Working Holiday Visa, including all the recent changes, the impact this will have and the opportunities it presents. It will also look at the digital landscape and key several key players from the digital world, (including event partners Website Travel and Rezdy), will be there to discuss and debate the technology and what operators of all sizes need to consider.

Backpacker Week partner Tourism Australia will give an update to their current plans and initiatives and will also be making some further announcements about their activity. Also they will be contributing to the discussion/debate on social media and digital marketing, as visitors are given a guide through the “do’s and don’ts of digital and social marketing”

Clifford Bennett will return to give his brief and insightful economic view as to the macro and micro economic factors that will have an impact on the youth travel industry.

There will also be a “meet the millennials” session with a number of actual backpackers from different nationalities attending to give a live Q & A with the audience on their expectations and experiences across Australia and New Zealand. Smaller breakout groups will give attendees the opportunity to interact with the different nationality groups.

An action packed conference which will ensure the key topics are debated and discussed and new information and insights are discovered.

A single ticket is $299+GST for group bookings of 5 people or more a 10% discount can be applied.
To book you place at the conference click Here

Make the most of your time in the Gold Coast and attend the ITE networking event and the Golden Backpack Awards, plus the other social events that are happening, by purchasing a multi event ticket for $799+gst
To book a multi event ticket click here

Also known as Skydive Australia, the acquisition will strengthen the company’s existing adventure offering in Byron Bay, where it has been operating a tandem skydiving business, Skydive Byron Bay since 2005. The merging of the two businesses will create an exciting new adventure hub for tourists and thrill-seekers looking to experience the beauty of Byron from a breath-taking perspective.

Byron Bay Ballooning provides approximately 3,000 hot air balloon customer experiences a year. The business will be relocating to Skydive the Beach’s skydiving headquarters in Byron Bay within six months.

“With its stunning beaches, national parks and vibrant culture, Byron Bay is one of Australia’s landmark locations. We are thrilled to be developing an adventure hub to support local business, whilst providing a classic and beautiful way to experience the best that Byron has to offer,” said Skydive MD Anthony Boucaut.

Since successfully completing an initial public offering in March 2015, Skydive the Beach has been growing exponentially, acquiring Australia Skydive (March 2015), NZone Skydive (October 2015), Skydive Wanaka (July 2016), Raging Thunder Adventures (October 2016) and Reef Magic Cruises (April 2017).
The addition of Byron Bay Ballooning to Skydive the Beach’s impressive adventure portfolio brings it closer to its ambition of becoming the world’s largest and most respected adventure tourism company.

Skydive CEO Anthony Ritter said, “The addition of Byron Bay Ballooning will complement our Northern Queensland hot air ballooning operations, Cairn Hot Air Balloon Co, which is run through our subsidiary, Raging Thunder Adventures.

“The past two years have seen Skydive the Beach expand significantly. As this acquisition reflects, our portfolio of adventure experiences has grown well beyond parachuting, with businesses within the group providing a range of adventure sports and experiences like white water rafting, cruises and canyoning.”

Nominees can now promote and canvass their nomination to there customers, prospective customers and others to secure votes which forms part of the criteria to win one of these coveted prizes.

This year sees a completely new voting system in place. Voters will have to pre-register to vote and only genuine votes can be cast and the voting activity will be tracked by this individual registration. The awards can now also validate each vote by IP address to prevent any suspected foul play.

Kevin Ellis, MD TNT Publishing pty, owner of the events said ” We strive each year to make the awards competitive and fair for companies big and small. These enhancements around the voting will ensure an even more robust voting process than ever before.”

The awards have also introduced a “double winner” opportunity in the regional best tour and accommodation activities where there is an obvious big/small company mismatch.

Ellis added, “Year on year more companies are getting involved and invariably these are smaller operators or hostels and they deserve their recognition. So this year in some categoies we will be awarding two winners based on their respective size.”

The awards often attract some negative coverage and commentary, however Ellis maintains they are an important part of the industry and provide some major benefits to the sector.

“All awards programmes have their detractors, which is only natural as by nature there are more losers than winners, and you simply cant please all the people all of the time! However the programme helps to maintain the profile of the adventure and youth travel insdustry in Australia and New Zealand and it ensures that for 3-4 months a year the industry has an enhanced profile across a number of platforms with the global consumers who have been or are thinking of visitng. We, along with our partners firmly believe the awards, along with the other events during backpacker week, are an integral part of the industry and its continued development.”

The voting is now open and you can start the process here