Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > The Academy > Tilted Life


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-18-2003, 10:12 PM   #1 (permalink)
Junkie
 
cchris's Avatar
 
Location: Sydney
Have you ever considered Australia as a holiday destination?

After reading "Australia, the 51st state"? thread and seeing many interesting comments I thought it might be timely to ask a few questions about how the "average" American see's us as a tourist destination.
In fact,open it up to anyone that want's to have their say.

Have you ever travelled down here for a holiday?

Would you like too?

If not why not?

General view?

I have yet to see the ads and it would be of interest to me if anyone want's to comment on those also.

I can clear up any misconceptions and answer your questions too if need be.



Nation 'must develop tourist image'

From correspondents in Los Angeles
July 19, 2003


LINK TO STORY


PAUL Hogan, shrimp and barbies were nowhere to be seen in Los Angeles today when Australia launched its most expensive campaign to entice American tourists Downunder.

The $US6.5 million ($9.98 million) blitz includes television, magazine, newspaper and online advertisements throughout the US and Canada.

"Some years ago Paul Hogan got us on the map in the United States, this is taking us to the next level," federal tourism minister Joe Hockey told a gathering of tourism officials and operators at LA's Park Hyatt hotel.

The slick new campaign features Australian landmarks, beautiful scenery, native animals and promotes Australians as friendly and hospitable.

The ads ask the American audience questions, including: "Have you ever waltzed with a kangaroo?" or "Have you ever found yourself in a land without strangers?"

Mr Hockey caused a firestorm last week when, during a visit to Japan, he referred to Sydney as "tired, complacent and event-free".

The comments infuriated NSW Premier Bob Carr and NSW tourism officials.

Mr Hockey didn't re-visit those comments during today's function, but he did tell the gathering "Australia has to move from being a destination to becoming an experience".

The new ad campaign underlines that.

"It is not good enough to assume that people, consumers are always going to have a holiday because they're not," said Mr Hockey, who has visited Tokyo, Singapore, London, New York and LA on his current world tour.

The US market is one of Australia's most important, with 430,000 Americans visiting the country over the past year.

Research, however, shows 12 million Americans "dream about going to Australia" and "see it as their number one destination".

The new campaign also promotes two-week packages to Sydney-Melbourne-Cairns, Sydney-Northern Territory-Cairns and Sydney-Kangaroo Island-Cairns for under $US2,000. ($3,070).

The campaign is a joint partnership between the Australian Tourist Commission, Qantas, state tourism offices and other commercial partners.

Mr Hockey also announced today a plan to create "Australia Week" in Los Angeles in January next year.

The idea was devised by Australia's Consul General in Los Angeles, John Olsen, with the aim to "focus the eyes of LA" on Australia during a week of Australian-related public events including a film festival, art exhibitions and business promotions.

AAP
__________________
There's a fine line between participation and mockery
cchris is offline  
Old 07-18-2003, 10:24 PM   #2 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Location: MN-WI
I'd like to get around to a tour of zoos & wildlife sanctuaries. I'd love to visit the Australia Zoo & catch a croc feed, and to check out the tigers at Dreamworld.

In fact, those spots are marked down as possible destinations for Molly & my 5th year wedding anniversary.
__________________
Incompetence
When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.
Xixox is offline  
Old 07-18-2003, 10:28 PM   #3 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
You know - once I saw that 6 of the 10 deadliest snakes in the world are in your backyard, I wasn't so keen on it anymore.

Seriously, I think most everyone I know sees it as a desired destination, myself included.
__________________
"take me down, little *Susie*, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of The Underground"
Donkeypuncher is offline  
Old 07-18-2003, 11:42 PM   #4 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: Riverside, CA
Quote:
You know - once I saw that 6 of the 10 deadliest snakes in the world are in your backyard, I wasn't so keen on it anymore.
Dude, everytime I watch something on Austrailia on the Animal Planet Channel I see poisonous snakes, spiders, jellyfish that kill in minutes and other things. Insane.
Lestat is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 03:29 AM   #5 (permalink)
Tilted
 
dont forget the crocks that like american tourists jk
maddog30 is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 03:38 AM   #6 (permalink)
Slave of Fear
 
My sister has been down there twice and loves it. I am more interested in ancient civilization type things, plus the long flight down is a major pain, but I think if I ever make it down I would have a good time.
Frowning Budah is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 03:39 AM   #7 (permalink)
Fast'n'Bulbous
 
Location: Australia, Perth
i live in australia (perth) and its great. Although i've never really seen any of these deadly animals before??? in the wild, but they're at the zoo and other such places.
camping and touring the outback is alot of fun.
The beaches are really nice as well, especially down south.
Sleepyjack is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 03:46 AM   #8 (permalink)
Crazy
 
We may have the most deadliest reptiles but less school and drive-by shootings. It evens out if you think about it.
__________________
-All women are 2 drinks away from a GIRL-ON-GIRL adventure!-
PHYcos is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 04:05 AM   #9 (permalink)
Right Now
 
Location: Home
I've considered Australia and New Zealand as destinations. We have been tossing around the idea of retiring in NZ due to the low cost of living, relatively inexpensive property costs and strong dollar value there. Plus it is beautiful.
Peetster is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 05:10 AM   #10 (permalink)
Essen meine kurze Hosen
 
Location: NY Burbs
I've been there many times, usually for about a month stay. My wife is Banana Bender, so we usually end up lazing around the out-laws house just off the beach on the Gold Coast. I've done a fair bit of traveling in country though. Sydney and the Blue Mountains, Melbourne and Soveriegn Hill, Cairns and the Reef, climbed Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon, even saw Steve Irwin play with his overgrown lizards at Australia Zoo. I find the entire country absolutely fascinating.

One day, hopefully soon, I will make it my home.
__________________
Out the 10Base-T, through the router, down the T1, over the leased line, off the bridge, past the firewall...nothing but Net.
platypus is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 06:00 AM   #11 (permalink)
Observant Ruminant
 
Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town
I would definitely go to Australia. Maybe not New Zealand. I researched NZ pretty well from a tourism standpoint, and the attractions boil down to 1) scenery, 2) hiking, 3) beer, and 4) sheep. Also beaches, but it would have been winter when I planned to go. Anyway, not enough attractions for a city boy.

Australia, now -- I think the real problem there would be picking out which part to see, there's no much.
Rodney is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 06:28 AM   #12 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Re: Have you ever considered Australia as a holiday destination?

Quote:
Originally posted by cchris
Have you ever travelled down here for a holiday?
I've considered it. It'd require either a lot of money or a lot of time: I'm NOT going on a 12-hour flight in Coach, or I'm taking a freight ship.

My brother wants to go also, but it comes down to a lack of money.
denim is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 06:31 AM   #13 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Quote:
Originally posted by Rodney
I researched NZ pretty well from a tourism standpoint, and the attractions boil down to 1) scenery, 2) hiking, 3) beer, and 4) sheep.
Uh, you're attracted to sheep?
denim is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 10:57 AM   #14 (permalink)
Pro Libertate
 
Location: City Gecko
Not a holiday destination as such, the CoMoFo's won't let me have more 'n 2 weeks hol @ a time and it would take me a week 2 get there (I smoke and need a lot of breaks).

Bill Bryson did a great travelling book about Oz. Made me want to go to Victoria, check out Melbourne as a place of residence. One day maybe!
__________________
[color=bright blue]W[/color]e Stick To Glass

"If three of us travel together, I shall find two teachers."
Confucious

Mad_Gecko is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 05:46 PM   #15 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: San Diego
I was there for christmas about 9 years ago. I absolutely loved that place. My family and I stayed in Perth right on the beach. Very Very nice. Its a great place just to hang out in. Most days we would sit on the beach and others we would travel to Rottnest Island. Very cool place, this Island has very few cars (service vechicles only) and you bike everywhere you go. All the animals will come right up to you. I would have loved to see Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef but things didn't work out for that trip...maybe next time. If anyone is thinking about visiting, I highly recommend it!
__________________
If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is....
punx1325 is offline  
Old 07-19-2003, 07:04 PM   #16 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Quote:
Originally posted by Rodney
I would definitely go to Australia. Maybe not New Zealand. I researched NZ pretty well from a tourism standpoint, and the attractions boil down to 1) scenery, 2) hiking, 3) beer, and 4) sheep. Also beaches, but it would have been winter when I planned to go. Anyway, not enough attractions for a city boy.
Managed to miss all the festivals, I see...
rodgerd is offline  
Old 07-20-2003, 04:37 AM   #17 (permalink)
pinche vato
 
warrrreagl's Avatar
 
Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton
I don't think I would ever go to either Hawaii or Australia because I have the impression that the locals would hate me and deride me for being a tourist. I don't know where that impression comes from, but that's the feeling I get from Australians and Hawaiians. I just feel like they (in general) hate tourists.

My answer to this is reminds me of a thread I started long ago about "Have You Ever Met an American?" (http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....&threadid=7107 )in which I wanted to hear the generalities about Americans that other people have. The thread began marvelously as TFPers from Finland, Ireland, Australia, Canada, etc., answered very openly and honestly about their general impressions of Americans.

And then the thread was quickly killed by litte junior Jesse Jacksons who kept admonishing the posters as to what bad people they were for even daring to voice a generalization.


It was a good thread killed by stupid people.

So I wouldn't be surprised if they flock to this thread and start handing out demerits.
__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.
warrrreagl is offline  
Old 07-20-2003, 04:43 AM   #18 (permalink)
pinche vato
 
warrrreagl's Avatar
 
Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton
Quote:
Originally posted by Donkeypuncher
You know - once I saw that 6 of the 10 deadliest snakes in the world are in your backyard, I wasn't so keen on it anymore.
Feh. North America has four kinds of poisonous snakes, and there's only one place where you can encounter all four of them; my home state of Alabama.

You just don't step on them.
__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.
warrrreagl is offline  
Old 07-20-2003, 07:24 AM   #19 (permalink)
Upright
 
Man, really, Australia is pretty much the same as the US, or so I've gathered. But with like, less people.

And more beer.

Oh yeah, and kill the accent before you get down here. Strong American accents tend to shit many people here.
Milopost is offline  
Old 07-20-2003, 09:19 AM   #20 (permalink)
The GrandDaddy of them all!
 
The_Dude's Avatar
 
Location: Austin, TX
2 of my cousins live down there, so i might come there to visit sometime.
__________________
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal
The_Dude is offline  
Old 07-21-2003, 07:09 AM   #21 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Daval's Avatar
 
Location: The True North Strong and Free!
I'd definately like to go to Oz, only problem is that from Canada is the expense and distance.

Otherwise its on my top 5 places to visit for sure!
__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill
Daval is offline  
Old 07-21-2003, 04:41 PM   #22 (permalink)
Junkie
 
greytone's Avatar
 
I have wanted to see Australia for a long time. But it is a long way and an expensive trip for those in North America. Hell, it is a long way for everyone. Once on a flight from London to Dublin I sat next to a lady from Sydney on her way to visit her boyfriend. They each made the trip once a year so they saw each other every 6 months. Talk about a long distance relationship.

I will go when I can take the time to see both the east coast and some of the outback. I also want to wait until I have more SCUBA experience so I can really enjoy that small coral formation ya'll have down there. It would be nice to take advantage of being in that corner of the planet and see some of New Zealand at the same time.
__________________
I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing.
Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"
greytone is offline  
Old 07-21-2003, 05:38 PM   #23 (permalink)
Loose Cunt
 
Meridae'n's Avatar
 
Location: North Bondi RSL
Quote:
Originally posted by Lestat
everytime I watch something on Austrailia on the Animal Planet Channel I see poisonous snakes, spiders, jellyfish that kill in minutes and other things. Insane.
Yeah, but you never see them unless you go looking for them.

I noticed that there were a couple of posts commenting on how we don't like American tourists... not so.

In our eyes there are two types of American tourists: Type A that tell us we drive on the 'other' side of the road and type B that tell us we drive on the 'wrong' side of the road... catch my drift?

Unfortunately the very few sometimes give the vast majority a bad name... but that happens everywhere.
__________________
What's easier to believe: that a guy was born without sex in the manner of several Greek demigods and grew up to be able to transmute liquids and alter his body density yet couldn't escape government execution, or that three freemasons in a vehicle made with aluminum foil in an era before digital technology escaped our atmosphere, landing on the moon, broadcasted from there, and then flew back without burning up?
Meridae'n is offline  
Old 07-21-2003, 09:18 PM   #24 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: Somewhere between the Havens and the Earth
yes but the parents are too cheap and im about a thousand dollars away from my dream trip to the grand canyon and yellow stone. oh ya baby watch im the next geologist chick to hit the planet!!!
oh wait thats my minor sorry
__________________
from the Havens I have fallen. . . to the earth as a mangled form. . . writhing in pain, my wings torn and bloodied. . . I have one purpose, only one goal. . . to find you and love you, for I am your. . . fallen angel
fallen_angel is offline  
Old 07-21-2003, 09:26 PM   #25 (permalink)
Poo-tee-weet?
 
JStrider's Avatar
 
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Have you ever travelled down here for a holiday? No

Would you like too? Yes... but unless i take my school refund check.. ditch school for a semester and go there instead its not in my near future

General view? lots of pretty landscapes... neet animals (cmon the duckbilled platypus is awesome) and just seems like it would be a cool place to visit...
__________________
-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto
JStrider is offline  
Old 07-22-2003, 04:47 AM   #26 (permalink)
Essen meine kurze Hosen
 
Location: NY Burbs
Quote:
Originally posted by JStrider
cmon the duckbilled platypus is awesome
Thank you. Thank you. You are too kind.

During the 8 months or so, spread across many vacations, I spent in Oz, I have never come across anyone that expressed dislike for me because I am American. (I'm sure I provided many other reasons, though ). I found everyone to be extremely friendly, laid back, and generous. In fact, in a pub I very seldom had to buy my own beer. People seemed to want to talk to me just because I'm from the US. I shouted often though - didn't want to leave the wrong impression.

As far as the nasty bitey things go, I have seen many in the wild - red bellied black snake, king brown, crocs, sharks, stone fish, box jellies, dingos (heh heh), etc. I spent a lot of time hiking in the hinterland, walking in the desert, and diving on the reef. I wasn't looking for them, but I was in their world. They gave me a wide berth, as I did them.

BTW, I've seen many nasties here in the US - rattle snakes, cottonmouths, alligators, black widows. So we are not the non-venonous toothless nirvana some would like to believe.

And cost? Recently I saw round trip airfare from LA to Sydney for $800. And once you get there, the US dollar goes very far.

Believe me. It's worth the trip. Just be advised that you will probably find yourself wanting to cash in your return ticket.
__________________
Out the 10Base-T, through the router, down the T1, over the leased line, off the bridge, past the firewall...nothing but Net.
platypus is offline  
Old 07-22-2003, 11:11 AM   #27 (permalink)
Eccentric insomniac
 
Slims's Avatar
 
Location: North Carolina
Yes, but only because it is sufficiently remote to make it a worth while goal for a sailing destination after I get my boat.
__________________
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence
Slims is offline  
 

Tags
australia, considered, destination, holiday

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 09:31 PM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360