Some Takeouts From the ATEC conference

Some takeouts from the ATEC conference yesterday.

Sandra Chipchace, Destination NSW
- Sydney aiming for strong visitor growth
- DNSW ran an innovative campaign to encourage Sydneysiders to visit regions.
- good campaign aimed at encouraging VFR market
- whole of Govt approach to visitor economy

Clifford Bennett, economist
- Aussie dollar to stay above parity, if not higher. But good new is this is the result of increased prosperity in Asia, which will result in increased visitation from these countries.
- Europe showing increasing life & should not be written off.
- US also recovering.
- however our attitude needs to be "I am Australian => I am Asian".
- China will remain strong, facing 2nd wave of growth.
- less than half of Chinese exports go to US or Europe, so less affected by downturn than we might expect.
- China turning to consumer growth.

National Australia Bank
- now accepting Chinese "Union Pay" card
- Chinese restricted in cash they can take out of country & have limited access to Visa, MC, so card allows them to increase discretionary spending when traveling.
- very large transactions, average $800, some in millions.
- more UP cards than Visa now.

Product Development Workshop
- what is unique? If we rely on generic products (wineries, beaches) it will eventually come down to price & we can't win there.
- what is product? Often defined by service
- need to be best of best
- develop encounters and experiences that are unique.
- quality, value & service will make bargain, not discounting.
- allowing access to Internet will let guests brag, valuable marketing.

Bergmanns Rule

Tonight's tour was wet and some of our guests from north Queensland really felt the cold. But as normal everybody admired Gumbah, our big male koala. He weighs about 14kg, over 30lbs, and is much bigger than the Queensland koalas most people come close to. As is often the case, he was asleep, and curled up in a ball to keep warm, waking briefly to the delight of the visitors. But what is not often realised is that his sheer physical size is an adaptation to the colder southern climate. A bigger body means a higher mass to body surface area, meaning more heat created and less heat lost. So a rule in zoology, "Bergmann's Rule", says that the further away you are from the equator, the bigger you are. Add to that Gumbah's thick fluffy fur coat, and the Victorian koala is an impressive animal. Handsome too!