Opinion
- Six steps for staying safe on volunteering programs
  
  Travel blogger, Cynthia Thomas gives us her top tips for making the most out of ‘voluntourism’ trips. Read more »
- Are there really 36,000 job vacancies in the tourism and hospitality sector?
  
  Joanna Burnet from VisitOz asks the question, ‘where the bloody hell are ya?’ Read more »
- Blog: Volunteering with BlazeAid
  
  Jessica Riley, an Irish backpacker and journalist, shares her experience volunteering with Blazeaid on the clean-up after the 2013 Gippsland Bushfires in Victoria. Read more »
- Defying off-peak dry spells with group buying
  
  Rachel Beaumont founded Darwin Harbour Cruises with her parents and husband in 1996. She discusses the benefits of group buying sites after her experiences with online marketing company LivingSocial. Read more »
- Use it or lose it: the small scale accommodation survey
  
  Last year the Federal Government committed to re-establishing a program for our sector to track the performance of our sector after funding was removed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Read more »
- Fisheries set to bait sharks after constant stream of sightings, but is it the right thing to do?
  
  The Department of Fisheries is set to begin deploying bait after a kill order was issued yesterday on a number of great white sharks that have been repeatedly spotted over the holiday period swimming near popular beaches in Western Australia. Read more »
- Gen Y choose experiences over stuff
  
  Chris Ball, founder and CEO at AdventureHoney suggests this generation are more likely to appreciate the things that money can’t buy. Read more »
- Industry feedback requested for Sydney Expo
  
  Andrew Paltridge, managing director of the Sydney Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo poses the question to industry folk: should the expo be split into an inbound/outbound event? Read more »
- Treating customers like this is unAustralian
  
  Travel agent Sarah Gohlke is unimpressed with how some people in the trade are operating…
  
  I write this out of complete frustration and an intolerance for injustice. Read more »
- Insurance rip-off…
  
  Queensland hostel operator Brent Gemmell is unimpressed with the constant rise of insurance premiums…
  
  What is happening with our insurance? As an industry we have been stung well over the top for a long time now. But this year we have reached new heights. Read more »
- ‘Australia must cut prices and re-enchant backpackers’
  
  Australian tourism operators need to get real and drop their prices, while the country as a whole needs to ease backpackers’ visa restrictions and improve its promotional efforts, according to travel writer David Whitley. Read more »
- From commissions to Koreans: ABiC debates continue
  
  After Sydney’s successful Adventure and Backpacker Industry Conference drew to a close last Thursday, operators took the rare chance of all being in town together to arrange an extra informal meeting to further discuss some of the burning issues to have arisen from the conference. Read more »

Garden Island gateway a positive move for tourism

While Sydney was snubbed by the 2014 G20 summit, the federal government’s decision to allow three ocean liners a year to berth at the Garden Island naval base is a positive move for the tourism industry.

The Woolloomooloo site will become the state’s new international gateway, with some reports suggesting the move is an olive branch from Julia Gillard, who spent the week defending her decision to give Brisbane the G20 summit.

During 2011-12 , 214 ships arrived in Sydney Harbour, up from 150 the previous year, The Herald Sun reports.

ATEC managing director, Felicia Mariani, said it is a positive step for the state’s tourism industry.

“The cruise industry in particular will contribute around $2 billion a year by 2020 and we must find ways to accommodate this growing sector, which in turn will grow jobs and opportunity across our economy.

“It is crucial that Australia find ways to support and grow a diverse economic base, from mining to manufacturing and the tourism industry, and ATEC welcomes this move which goes some way towards meeting the needs of the cruise sector.”