Tourist areas adversely impacted by unfavourable weather conditions

Ben takes us around Australia this month reflecting on his experiences at prominent Australian tourist destinations and how they function as a result of unfavourable weather conditions.

Yes, I have been to some of what I believe to be the prominent tourist destinations within Australia, but unfortunately it seems I attract bad weather and often experience these magnificent destinations not at their full tourist potential. Firstly I will be reflecting on a recent trip to Hamilton Island, then to the New South Snow fields where I worked for two years and finally on the recent post-flood advertising campaigns by Tourism QLD.

Towards the end of last year I took a holiday at Hamilton Island. I had been there before and had an amazing time so was looking forward to the trip. As complete coincidence I was holidaying on Hamilton Island 1 week prior to ‘Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure’. But unlike Oprah’s amazing SUNNY holiday I did not arrive by helicopter or to the extravagant sunset BBQ hosted by Curtis Stone. On my holiday there was torrential rain every day, with the exception of a small amount of sunlight bursting through the clouds as I was crossing the tarmac boarding my plane home. As a comparison to my first holiday where I enjoyed such facilities as: go karting, bush walking, golf, Great Barrier Reef cruises, water sports and many more, including the ritual afternoon ‘Happy hour Bar Hop” I found myself with limited options due to the weather. The hotel made their best efforts to provide indoor activities but there is only so much bingo and trivia you can play with the same guests day-in day-out. I still did enjoy my holiday but I had to appreciate Hamilton Island during an unexpected wet season.

During the winters of 2006 and 2007 I worked as a chair lift driver at Thredbo ski field. With majestic views of Kosciuszko National Park the snowy mountains of Thredbo are best known for its long runs, snowmaking systems, highest lift point and many more. To continue with the bad luck of tourist destinations, in 2006 the natural snow fall depth peaked at 85.1cm, the lowest level EVER since natural snow fall depth started recording back in 1970. The beauty of being addicted to winter sports is the thrill of arriving at the bottom of the mountain to find fresh powder from the night before. Now in Australia there are very few days like this, but I am fortunate enough to have experienced a few. The downside to falling in love with winter sports is the fickle relationship with Mother Nature and her decision to delay the start of a snow season or cut a snow season short with lack of snow fall. To put things in perspective before the introduction of snowmaking facilities at Thredbo there were only 19 days of top to bottom riding, but now riders can enjoy on average 100 days of top to bottom riding each season. Thredbo defines the main reasons to use snowmaking as:

• It provides snow early in the season to get skiing and snowboarding started;
  
• It improves and maintains the quality of the slopes during the season by topping up natural snow in the areas that have poor cover, either because of general rider wear and tear or not enough natural snow depth;
• It supplements natural snow in locations that are prone to melting later in the season ensuring length and viability; and
• To have the best possible skiing product in Thredbo for guests.

Thredbo has accepted the unpredictable nature of natural snow falls and the adoption of their snowmaking facility has allowed for more consistent riding conditions, providing their customers with longer enjoyment of the limited Australian snow season.

After the devastating floods that affected Queensland earlier this year Tourism QLD had the challenging job of introducing advertising campaigns to bring tourists back to Queensland to boost the economy. Listening to the radio in the office I overheard recently an advertising campaign outlining that although Queensland was flooded most of our best experiences involve water, for example the theme parks on the Gold Coast. I thought this was an interesting advertising spin to focus some of the negative away from the floods. Another interesting advertising campaign is the ‘Million Dollar Memo’ by Tourism QLD, where organisations compete for 1 million dollars of Queensland travel experiences. Tourism Queensland realises that this competition not only allows businesses to provide their opinion on the tourism experiences in Queensland but provides an invaluable source of word-of-mouth marketing.

 With much of Australia’s tourism offer linked to the weather and the seasons, the industry will always be vulnerable to adverse conditions. Diversifying a regions tourism product and flexible and responsive marketing campaigns, such as that from Tourism QLD, help minimise impacts from poor weather events or seasons. And the odd bingo ball would help on a rainy day too.