It's Official: We're On The Worldwide Tourism Map
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday May 15, 2004
WOLLONGONG has been formally recognised as a leading Australian tourist destination by international and domestic travellers.
A web site that attracts 3.5 million visitors a month has ranked the city as one of the 10 most popular regional tourism destinations in Australia.
The achievement published in this week's Travel Daily newsletter showed Wollongong had officially come of age as a tourist location and highlighted the need for more accommodation, according to Wollongong Tourism manager Greg Binskin.
``This means we have been recognised as a tourist destination globally," Mr Binskin said.
``We still need additional hotels to support the growing demand and encourage more business and tourism to the area."
HotelClub.com marketing director Chloe Lim said the ranking was based on accommodation booking statistics released by HotelClub.com, an international online reservation service representing more than 7000 hotels in 37 countries.
Wollongong was ranked in the top 10 with the Gold Coast, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Ayers Rock, the Blue Mountains, Port Douglas, Coffs Harbour, Alice Springs and Busselton.
MG Media Communications director Bill Gray, of Sydney, agreed the industry recognition was very significant because HotelClub.com was one of the world's largest online hotel booking services.
Mr Binskin said it also highlighted how important online reservations had become.
That was why he was involved in an Australian government initiative, with funding from the Department of Transport and Regional Services, to establish an online reservation system for Wollongong and the Illawarra.
The project was also in response to Minister for the Illawarra David Campbell's challenge for our tourism industry to be innovative.
``We have taken up the gauntlet and are about to install an online reservation system that covers accommodation and attractions," Mr Binskin said.
``We will be rolling it out before summer."
Mr Binskin said it was important to be prepared for increased tourism. HotelClub.com information revealed regional Australia had recently enjoyed strong tourism growth.
Compared to 2003 there had been a 106 per cent increase in bookings for regional and rural destinations in the first four months of 2004.
The latest increase came on top of a 218 per cent increase last year over 2001.
Ms Lim said the data, collected from bookings made by HotelClub.com customers, showed that regional travel had continued to grow from an increase in domestic and international tourists.
In Australia HotelClub.com represents 800 properties, 46 per cent located outside capital cities, in 85 locations. It is operated by Flairview Travel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation.
TOP DESTINATIONS
1 Gold Coast
2 Cairns
3 Sunshine Coast
4 Ayers Rock
5 Blue Mountains
6 Port Douglas
7 Coffs Harbour
8 Alice Springs
9 Busselton
10 Wollongong
The big movers for 2004
1 Kingscliff
2 Port Hedland
3 Great Keppel Island
4 Kooralbyn
5 Phillip Island
6 Burnie
7 Port Arthur
8 Katherine
9 Kakadu National Park
10 Denham
© 2004 Illawarra Mercury
