There’s No Place Like Home For Aussies

More Australians are planning a winter holiday at home this year, according to new survey results that show Aussies are choosing Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast over other popular destinations including Thailand, Fiji and NZ.

lastminute.com.au data revealed that local ski regions are receiving a significant share of bookings this winter with Jindabyne receiving 68 percent of domestic bookings followed by Falls Creek and Threbo with 53 percent and 45 percent.

Warmer spots across the country are also being utilised as winter getaways this year, according to the results, that found Palm Cove managed to receive 39 percent of bookings for winter this year followed  by 35 percent to Cairns and 34 percent to Mission Beach.

"Australia really does offer a taste of whatever holiday you're after during the cooler months,” lastminute.com.au spokesperson said.

“If you're a ski bunny, there are plenty of snow regions with great accommodation and nightlife options to choose from. If you're a sunshine seeker, it's the perfect time of year to tick Darwin or Tropical North Queensland off your must-visit list.”

Meanwhile in the international sector, London topped the list for Australian travellers during June, July and August this year, followed by Bali, Auckland and Bangkok.

"Sun-loving Aussies were no doubt pretty disappointed with our last summer,” the spokesperson added.

“These savvy travellers are seeking out a dose of summer by booking destinations with warm climates all year round.”

ICC U19 CRICKET WORLD CUP

The world's best young cricketers will gather in Queensland from 11-26 August to test their skills during the 2012 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup.

Free to attend and held over three locations - Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Townsville - the tournament will see sixteen teams from around the world compete including Australia; Afghanistan; Bangladesh; England; India; Ireland; Namibia;  Nepal; New Zealand; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Scotland; South Africa; Sri Lanka; West Indies; and Zimbabwe.

For a full tournament schedule visit 

www.icc-cricket.yahoo.net
ICC U19 CRICKET WORLD CUP

Green Tape Chokes Our Tourism

A luxury hotel! Right inside a Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Of course, you might say. Who wants to stand in a hot forest the whole day, looking at trees?

Who wouldn't want to zip back after a couple of hours to grab that cocktail, jump in that pool, lounge on that sun deck or take that massage next to that passing wombat?

But note this. This ad campaign is the first in which Tourism Australia has featured not just our best bits of nature, but the luxury resorts right next to them, including spectacular ones at Kangaroo Island and Tasmania's Great Oyster Bay.

Not only that, the Blue Mountains resort is the one at Wolgan Valley that green groups fought and green tape almost strangled. A hotel in a national park? Sacrilege!

Which makes Tourism Australia's latest ad campaign, launched in Shanghai, not just a celebration of Australia, but one more sign of the decline of the anti-human green movement.

The Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa, which Test captain Michael Clarke booked out last month for his wedding, is the perfect example.

Emirates announced in 2005 it wanted to build this $125 million extravaganza, yet had to work for two more years just to get its plans through all the green tape, including approvals from the then Howard government, the local shire, the NSW Land and Environment Court and the NSW Labor government.

It's a familiar story for any big developer. For years now, it's seemed a sin to green preachers to have man's footprint anywhere near nature.

This absurd fear of human contamination has closed a uranium mine in Kakadu, banned oil exploration around the Barrier Reef, halted coal mines in Queensland, delayed housing developments in even the most barren scrub and now threatens a planned $30 billion gas hub project on James Price Point an empty scrap of the vast Kimberley.

Even a humble $50 million expansion of the Yaringa Boat Harbour on the Mornington Peninsula was held up for a year by green bureaucrats fretting over an orange-bellied parrot no one had actually seen there for a quarter of a century.

This anti-human paranoia has also led to attacks on tourism itself. Tourists are told not to climb Ayers Rock; recreational fishing has been severely restricted; horse riding in many national parks is limited or even banned; and where is the five-star resort on the Barrier Reef itself that tourists would cross the world to see?

It's like banning laughter in church. Victoria's magnificent Wilsons Prom is under such prudish management that you can't stay anywhere inside bar a camping site or some spartan eco-cabin.
The Wolgan Valley resort could have gone the same puritanical way. What an effort and expense Emirates had to go to just to get an official "yes" to a project that Tourism Australia now touts as one of our biggest tourism magnets.

It had to swap 114 hectares of bushland it had bought next to the park for 39ha of the park itself, with green groups screaming every inch of the way. It had to plant thousands of trees, modify its designs and agree to all kinds of restrictions. Even now, just four helicopter trips a week are allowed to ferry in guests.

Now come the Tourism Australia ads to explode the fallacy and extremism that tends to drive such anti-development campaigns.

No, man is not necessarily a pollution on the landscape. No, there's not much point in having great scenery if you make it too tough for people to see or enjoy.

These ads no longer trade on our beauty spots being remote and unsullied by human hands. After all, there's not a single national park that isn't improved by a good road to go see it.
So we see the beauty of the Great Oyster Bay through the windows of the Saffire Freycinet luxury lodge.
We look out over Kangaroo Island's beach from the great windows of the Southern Ocean Lodge. Uluru is seen from well laid dining tables at dusk, and a chopper is parked on top of a waterfall in the El Questro Wilderness Park, because who wants to hike in the heat?

In fact, the sole Victorian entry in the 12 destinations showcased is nothing designed by nature not the Great Ocean Road or the penguins of Phillip Island but Crown casino.

And Sydney closes the ads with our greatest calling card the man-made Sydney Opera House, on the edge of the God-made harbour.

It's the perfect balance.
Green Tape Chokes Our Tourism

Here's Cheers to the First Queensland Beer Week

If the flashing red neon XXXX sign atop Castlemaine Brewery isn’t proof enough that Queenslanders love their beer, the state is now bracing for its own beer bash with the inaugural Queensland Beer Week from July 16- 22.

The collective ‘clink’ of beer bottles will be heard across Queensland as breweries, bottle shops and iconic pubs team up to showcase the very best of beer culture, while beer-lovers also attempt a world record for the most people brewing at one time.

And the timing couldn’t be more perfect with Queensland’s favourite brew, XXXX Gold recently taking the crown for the nation's most popular beer and flattening the bubbles out of long-time title holder, Victoria Bitter.

Raise your glass and celebrate with the 10 best beer experiences in Queensland. 

1. Take a tour with a tipple

Get inside the head, the heart and the history of Queensland’s amber elixir with a tour through the XXXX Ale House in Brisbane’s inner-west. Tours of the 130-year-old icon run daily and visitors can see how the beer is made and taste the final product. www.xxxxbrewerytour.com.au

2. Bavarian beer in the bush

If the clink of a beer stein and the image of an honest Aussie farmer in a good pair of lederhosen appeals, then head west for the world’s most remoteOutback Oktoberfest in Jundah. You won’t go hungry or thirsty with Beer Wenches catering to your every whim, whether it be a big juicy bratwurst or stein of authentic Erdinger beer specially imported from Germany. www.outbackoktoberfest.com.au

3. Get crafty on the coast

You can’t rush a good thing, according to the Gold Coast’s only craft brewery, Burleigh Brewing Company. It takes around a month to perfect a Burleigh brew; the onsite team does absolutely everything by hand, from carefully selecting the malted barley, yeast and hops to bottling the finished product, boxing it up and lovingly placing it in the cold room. Clearly they’re doing something right - their HEF beer was recently judged the Best German Wheat Beer at the World Beer Cup 2012. Wunderbar! www.burleighbrewing.com.au

4. A match made in heaven

It’s an unlikely pairing, but beer and cheese go together like Queen Elizabeth and her corgies. Explore the hinterland town of Mount Tamborine and match the cheese at Witches Chase Cheese with award-winning beer samples from Mount Tamborine Brewery next door. www.mtbeer.com

5. Beers and bull riding

Crack a coldie at the iconic Great Western Hotel in Rockhampton, the home of great steak, beer and rodeos. This 116-year-old pub plays host to major national rodeos and features a huge undercover rodeo arena for 1,000 people that attracts champion riders from near and far.www.greatwesternhotel.com.au

6. BYO (Brew Your Own) beer
Be your own brew master for a day at Brew 4 U in Brisbane - Queensland’s first brew-on-premises microbrewery. Visit the brewery and choose a beer from their list of over 200 different styles. Measure out the ingredients, mix them together and transfer it to the fermenter where your brew will bubble for 2-4 weeks. At the end of the process, take home 50 litres of your very own freshly brewed and bottled beer. www.bru4u.com

7. Archive of ales

Beer-aficionados won’t go thirsty at Archive Beer Boutique in Brisbane’s West End, with more than 400 different bottled beers and 14 draught beers to choose from. Currently on tap is Burleigh HEF, White Rabbit White Ale and Two Birds Sunset Red Ale. But if the reserve selection is more to your taste, for $175 you can try a bottle of Brewdog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin. With 32 per cent alcohol it’s the world’s strongest beer and should be enjoyed like a fine whisky. www.archivebeerboutique.com.au

8. Sky’s the limit

The tropical climate of North Queensland has always been associated with cold, thirst-quenching beer. Enter Blue Sky Brewery. Situated in the heart of Cairns, the brewery produces 10 preservative-free, full-flavoured beers including lagers, ales and ciders. Enjoy guided tours from Monday to Thursday where you can sample their stable of beers including FNQ Lager, FNQ Gold, Cairns Gold and Blue Sky Pilsner. Blue Sky is also serious about being green with 95 per cent of its spent grain and yeast used for cattle feed.  www.blueskybrewery.com.au

9. Something’s a-brewing

One of Australia’s premier boutique breweries, the Townsville Brewing Company has been brewing six regular beers plus various seasonal releases since opening in 2001. Steeped in history, the brewery is housed within the town’s original post office building, flanked by an impressive clock tower. Brewery tours aren’t available but they do offer tutored tastings.  www.townsvillebrewery.com.au

10. No bitter aftertaste

Cleverly named beer bistro Bitter Suite is one of New Farm’s trendy new kids on the block and becoming a fast favourite for weekend afternoon drinks. The friendly owners living out their dream offer patrons hearty fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But it’s their grazing menu begging to be washed down with a choice of seven local craft beers on tap, plus 55 (mostly) Australian bottles that’s winning over locals. www.bittersuite.com.au

(Source: travmedia.com)

Brisbane to Host Spanish Exclusive

In yet another Australian coup, Brisbane prepares to host ‘Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado’, an exhibition of more than 100 masterpieces from Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado, to be shown exclusively at the Queensland Art Gallery from July 21 to November 4.

The Museo Nacional del Prado, Spain’s national art museum, holds one of the most significant collections of European painting in the world. ‘Portrait of Spain’ is the first exhibition from the Prado ever to be shown in Australia, and represents the largest group of works the museum has ever lent to a foreign museum.

Curated by Javier Portús Pérez, Head of the Department of Spanish Painting (to 1700), Museo Nacional del Prado, this extensive exhibition will explore the history of painting in Spain over three and a half centuries, highlighting the internal and external factors that influenced the evolution of Spanish painting between 1550 and 1900.

Presented as various chapters of Spain’s history, the exhibition will include magnificent Royal portraits, large scale history paintings, religious pictures, mythological scenes and intimate still lifes.

‘Portrait of Spain’ will bring to Australia work by artists who played central roles in the history of European painting, including Spanish, Italian, Flemish and French artists who worked for the Spanish Royal Court.

The exhibition will explore the political and cultural forces that have influenced the development of modern Spain, and reveal how modern Spanish identity was formulated over 350 years.

Artists represented include EL GRECO, Vecellio di Gregorio TIZIANO (TITIAN), Peter Paul RUBENS, Michel-Ange HOUASSE, Anton Rafael MENGS, Francisco de ZURBARÁN, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y VELÁZQUEZ, Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO, Juan CARREÑO DE MIRANDA, Luis MELÉNDEZ, Francisco de GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Federico de MADRAZO Y KUNTZ, Mariano FORTUNY MARSAL and Joaquín SOROLLA Y BASTIDA.

The exhibition is presented by the Queensland Art Gallery and Art Exhibitions Australia, in partnership with the Museo Nacional Del Prado. 

(Source: Brisbanemarketing.com.au)

Brisbane Hosts Global Sensation Jersey Boys

Brisbane will join New York’s Broadway, London, Las Vegas, and the U.S. National tours as the world-wide smash hit production of Jersey Boys opens at QPAC this July.

Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons is the story of how four blue collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop sensations of all time.

Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi joined forces and became The Four Seasons, writing their own hits to sell over 175 million records before they were 30!

Over 1 million people have seen the show in Melbourne and Sydney and over 14 million around the world.

Broadway Producer, Michael David, from Dodger Theatricals is thrilled to bring Jersey Boys to Brisbane.

“The show is chock full of classic Four Seasons show stopping songs and a story that is all the more riveting because it’s true,” he said.

“With an extraordinary cast, we believe Jersey Boys will engage theatregoers and send them dancing out of the Lyric Theatre!”

Jersey Boys features 20 Four Seasons hit songs including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Oh What a Night and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.

Jersey Boys – The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons has proven to be a world-wide sensation, winning four 2006 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2009.

In Australia Jersey Boys won two Helpmann Awards being Best Musical and Best Music Direction of a Musical and seven Victorian Green Room Awards.

The Jersey Boys Original Cast Recording also received a 2006 Grammy Award® for Best Musical Show Album.

This is a theatrical event not to be missed.

(Source: brisbanemarketing.com.au)

Brisbane Kicks Off Winter Festival Season

The City is set to play host to Australia’s largest winter entertainment event, The Winter Festival, from 8 June – 1 July.

Featuring an expanded programme of food, music, nightlife and family fun, and supported by key sponsor Lipton Chai Latte, the festival is set to be even more popular in 2012.

The major celebrations in in King George Square add to The Cities biggest winter calendar of events. Over the winter months, people can warm up with Fete de la Musique, the delectable Brisbane Food Festival, a visit from the Qantas Wallabies and the London Olympic celebrations.

The Winter Festival will make its Australian debut in Brisbane before moving on the other states. And due to the huge success of last year’s event and by popular demand, the program will be extended an additional week – with the third week taking place in the school holidays.

One of the highlights of the festival will be Australia’s largest open air ice skating rink.

The Winter Festival is part of a wider program of events being held to encourage Brisbanites to Warm up in The City. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said The City will be alive with activity this winter.

“While other states may shun the winter months, Queenslanders will celebrate the outdoors during the months of June and July,” Cr Quirk said.

“The City will mark the season with special food and retail offers. Plus an entertainment program which includes ice skating with Brisbane City Hall as a backdrop, it’s certainly a unique experience,” he said.

As the temperatures drop, The Winter Festivals nationally are estimated to entice 500,000 people outdoors both day and night to enjoy a unique winter experience throughout the June/July school holidays.

Director of The Winter Festival, Justin Ricketts said the program will be launched on Thursday June 7.

“Last year the Winter Festival was truly embraced by the Brisbane community, and the atmosphere and vibe during the festival was amazing. This year we wanted to thank all of those who attended, and extend an extra week for those that missed out. We look forward again to a great festival in 2012, and getting our skates on with the Brisbane community,” Mr Ricketts said.

There will be an enhanced range of activities for children throughout the day including special family discounts, school holiday programs, special guest visits from their favourite kids characters and facilities for children’s birthday parties.

There’s plenty for the adults too with a ski-themed lodge aimed at young revellers complete with roaring fireplaces, specialty European alpine cuisine & dining, licensed bars, live music and entertainment.

Those keen for a winter's night out will be rewarded with high-quality hearty comfort food and Glühwein - a type of mulled wine, rarely seen on Australian shores.

The Lipton Chai Latte lodge will return for the 2012 Winter Festivals, offering a warm space to relax after a skate, and a free delicious Lipton Chai Latte.

Marketing Manager of Lipton Chai Latte Natalie Cassar said they’re excited to be continuing their relationship with the Winter Festivals in 2012.

“We look forward to welcoming Brisbane visitors to take a break in the Lipton Chai Latte Lounge and enjoy a free exotic and indulgent cup of Lipton Chai Latte,” Ms Cassar said.

With Nova 106.9 as launch media partners, the Lipton Chai Latte Winter Festivals is again set to gain both domestic and international media coverage.

Entry to the Lipton Chai Latte Winter Festivals is free and is open from 12 noon – 10pm during weekdays and 10am – 10pm on weekends.  Skate hire and rink access tickets start from $12 for kids and $17 for adults with group and family discounts available.

Brisbane, King George Square  (8th June – 1st July)

(Source: Brisbanemarketing.com.au)