AUS 4-5 28/4/09 14:58 Page 55
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australasia knowledge
Gap-year market
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ourism A
Advise clients to book a Sydney BridgeClimb in advance. They may say they prefer flexibility once there to organise activities, but popular excursions such as this get booked up
Bridging the gap year
The gap-year market provides loads of opportunities Accommodation
to make money on extras. With the economy driving
Gappers are often reluctant to pre-book ac-
more people to take a year out, Debbie Ward urges
commodation but hostel-hunting is the last
thing they’ll feel like when they arrive, jet-
agents to make the most of their bookings lagged in an unfamiliar city. Recommend
booking at least the first two nights and
stress good lead-in prices, for instance Travel
A
s the recession bites, Australia 2 offers en-suite rooms in Sydney and Auck-
and New Zealand are seeing an land from £28 per person.
increase in Brits arriving on gap Hotel or apartment vouchers like Go
years. Koala, Go Kiwi, Choice and Golden Chain are
School-leavers and graduates are travelling a great sell for clients wanting flexibility. Of-
or taking working holidays while they wait fered by operators including Gold Medal, Jet-
for job prospects to improve back home, set, Premier Holidays and Travel 2, they
and they’re being joined by credit crunch cover a range of gradings.
casualties with redundancy payouts large Remember, at peak times, like New Year
enough to backpack in style. in Sydney, and in some remote locations,
Other gappers have been encouraged, and pre-booked accommodation is a must.
even incentivised, by cash-strapped employers
to delay starting new jobs or take sabbaticals.
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Escorted tours
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You don’t need to work for the likes of OzXposure sales director Richard Hanson
STA or Trailfinders to take advantage of the T
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says: “Experienced travellers choose to pre-
gapper boom, just tune in to the opportuni- Set up gift lists for gappers, which include experience book organised tours for a number of very
ties beyond flight-only. Here are some sales packages, such as snorkelling with Manta Rays good reasons, whether it be safety, compan-
points to consider. . . ionship, convenience, or they realise that
for a year they might want to do a South East there is no way they would ever be able to
Stopovers Asia tour, which can be very reasonable.” see and do so much on their own.”
Most clients will be dreading the long flight For brief stopovers, stress the time saved He suggests agents offer tour components
Down Under so it’s always worth suggesting by pre-booking city tours and experiences to inexperienced, older or solo travellers,
a stopover to break the journey in Asia, the through operators or ticket specialists like stressing the price includes accommodation,
Middle East, the US, South Africa or South Keith Prowse and Attraction World. food, entry fees and activities.
America. Qantas Holidays market develop- You could even book different stopovers While tours of classic highlights are popu-
ment manager Esther Ward recommends for outbound and return journeys. Travel 2’s lar, group travel can most benefit those
agents think big: “The average stopover is Australia and New Zealand brochures high- heading off the beaten track.
just a few days but if someone is going away light many options.
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