Running a small tourism business in uncertain economic and geopolitical times is not easy. We made it through COVID, China’s cold shoulder, inflation, and 18 months of high interest rates. Then, just when a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, Donald Trump re-appeared and blew up the world economy! On top of [...]

Travel and tourism would not typically be the first industry thought of as leading technology, digital marketing, and data security innovation. But in fact, technology has, and is, massively reshaping our industry. And it is not just the big end of town.  Tourism SMEs today have available an array of tools to automate and [...]

In the last couple of decades or so there has been a big shift in what tourists want from their travel. Gone are the days when highly organised groups from Japan or China or the US lobbed in Australia to tick off a list of famous landmarks on generic guided tours. I think Australians [...]

Impacts of Climate Change Over the summer, I’ve watched bushfires, floods, heat waves and cyclones disrupt not only communities but small tourism businesses in destinations right across Australia. And that is not to diminish the loss and suffering, including tragic deaths inflicted on those impacted. It has spurred me to focus this blog on [...]

Well, here we are, already over a month into 2025! And just when you thought things couldn’t get any harder or crazier, we’ve got a global trade war on the horizon, inflation about to be let off the leash again in the US, staff harder to find than the holy grail and an election [...]

Scarily, it’s 40 years since Tourism Australia’s famous ‘slip an extra shrimp on the barbie’ Paul Hogan ad campaign. Best campaign they have ever done! Have a look, it’s still a classic. The basic proposition of the Paul Hogan campaign was to highlight our collective national personality - happiness, friendliness, and optimism. Using ‘Hoges’ [...]

It’s been a topsy turvy spring. But summer looks like being long and hot again! It’s time to run a quick check that you’re ready to attract summer holiday travellers and deliver a memorable (reviewable) experience. Here are some simple ‘must do’ tasks to prepare your business for a boom time summer… it’s going [...]

I’ve now written three blogs about the value of videos in marketing tourism businesses, how to create those videos and exactly the tools you need to achieve close to ‘professional’ quality and I want to explain how to use readily available, low-cost drones to add the ‘wow’ factor to your armoury of content for [...]

My last blog emphasised the value of video content and how you can do it yourself. Judging from the response I got, many small tourism operators, like you, tend to get overwhelmed and ‘freak out’ at the suggestion that they can, and should, create their own video content for their website and social media. [...]

In my last blog, I wrote about the important role videos can play marketing your tourism business and attracting eyeballs to your website. I understand that it may seem daunting, and take you out of your comfort zone, but creating your own video content for both your website and social media channels is easy, [...]