Survey says Australians are unreliable, unhelpful and untrustworthy…..and holidays in Australia are poor quality and bad value…..and it gets better….Tourism Australia CEO says he is not surprised!
In media reports yesterday from a major tourism conference taking place in Melbourne, Gruen Transfer ad guru and head of the George Patterson Y&R ad agency Russel Howcroft, unveiled some rather damning fresh data about global perceptions of Australians.
While the results are very interesting, what I found most interesting and surprising was that when Tourism Australia CEO Andrew McEvoy was questioned about the results, rather than responding positively, he amazingly said that the findings didn’t surprise him!
With the results of the survey saying that the many foreigners regard Australians as unreliable, unhelpful and untrustworthy and also that holidays in Australia were poor quality and bad value, it has to come as rather a surprise to the industry that Mr McEvoy did not take the opportunity to extol the virtues of Australia and Australians.
Isn’t that what he is paid to do?
Instead, in addition to his unsurprised comment, Mr McEvoy used it as an opportunity to promote TA’s current on line campaign, saying that that’s why the new campaign is based on emphasising the distinctiveness of Australia and use of social media to spread the good word about Australia from foreigners who had visited.
He added that using Bollywood stars as ambassadors to promote Australia a key plank in boosting Indian tourism following the student protests in 2009 with the latest campaign aimed at China featuring Chinese music stars.
He also said, “There’s different perceptions in different countries about Australia, so we’re encouraging people who have been to Australia to tell our story via Facebook and it is working”.
That may be the case, but George Patterson Y&R won’t have pulled their data out of the sky, so why such a contrast between the George Patterson Y&R results are saying and TA’s on line campaign?
Interesting!
Whatever the answer, what is certain is that, while some might applaud Mr McEvoy’s apparent honesty in backing the results of the survey, which may or may not be accurate, don’t you find it as surprising as I do, that the person charged with positively promoting Australia, and its image and reputation overseas, did not take a much more positive line, perhaps even going as far as rejecting the results of the survey? Now wouldn’t that have been an innovative response!
Perhaps it is time for change at the top of Australian tourism, with the industry in serious crisis, an issue that those in power do not seem to have grasped and if the George Patterson Y&R ad agency survey result and Mr McEvoy’s lacklustre response are anything to go by, we can potentially expect to see even fewer international visitors in future.
Industry Insider Commentary and Opinion by John Alwyn-Jones, Global Travel Media Special Correspondent
I am working in the caravan park here in Katherine, and I am astounded by the comments from mainly grey nomads about the appalling attitude by operators in Darwin and Alice Springs. Its a ‘thats the price, take it or leave it’ rudeness, indifference and price gouging for the season. There are a lot of very unhappy people visiting the NT, but are returning to this park because of the positive attitude and welcoming stance. I had been in the tourist industry in Cairns over a 15 year period and saw the same thing happen there, and look at the state of that city. Unfortunately Australian staff are overpaid, under trained (take notice of the NZ training and its successful Kiwihost) and indifferent, and the costs of what we offer is not in line with overseas costs and prices. Wake up, Australia, we are not that unique.
Word of mouth travels fast – my employers are benefiting from that, I can assure you.
However, the comments by Patterson are of no help.
“many foreigners regard Australians as unreliable, unhelpful and untrustworthy and also that holidays in Australia were poor quality and bad value”
Well, I’ve been in tourism business in Australia for 12 years, and this has been a recurrent complaint of most foreign tourists we came across. Operators with a sense of reality rather than a “none’s better than us Aussies” can only recognise this situation.
So, tourism Australia CEO Andrew McEvoy simply does his job recognising the reality and the problem… that’s the only way to start addressing it !
On the other hand, I do find YOUR own comment “interesting”: you seem to believe a CEO is basically supposed to be a cheerleading mouthpiece, paid to deny any unpleasant evidence, possibly to utter downright lies as long as they sound nice… That’s a lot of money to pay for a cheerleader.
Well, I think, judging from your own report, that McEvoy’s attitude is the right one, and YOU have to operate a mental paradigm shift…
Dr Gabriel Bittar
A bientôt Seayu Lodge
Kangaroo Island
http://www.seayu.com
I am a neebie to the Tourism and Accommodation industry, but I can honestly say that in our first year of operating a guest house in Katoomba, a very popular destination, we have had nothing but glowing praise of our service. Our guests come from Sydney, Melbourne, Qld, Singapore and Canada to name a few. I guess it comes down to how much you care about your business, your image and your guests.
I don’t outsource the cleaning because I can’t afford to yet. But I probably won’t go down that path in future because I want to be hands-on and know that MY attention to detail and cleanliness is 99.9%. Too many times, I hear people complain about the cleanliness or presentation of a place. I want my place to stand out for the right reasons, and so far, it’s working. If you put in the effort, holiday makers notice, and they tell their friends. And they come back. So it’s a no-brainer really.
To comment on the lack of support by the TA CEO, I would like to see a more specific breakdown in the findings. Is it right across Australia? Does it apply to certain sections of the industry? Are they long-established businesses who may have lost their focus and enthusiasm? When we go away within Australia, we have had polite and friendly staff in most places, whether that be a hotel, a holiday home or tourist attraction. I can say, that restaurant and cafe staff are not always smiley-cheery, which is a shame.
I’ve been traveling to Aust on and off for 40 years and the hospitality has always been pretty much the same. The exceptions were usually the small owner operated establishments. On the positive side, food quality and variety in Australia has improved immensely over the past 20-25 years as more immigrants arrived and opened ethnic restaurants. English “cuisine” was hardly the most sought after. I think it was said about Captain Cook that the reason he sailed the world was that he was trying to find a good restaurant.
The results of the George Patterson Y&R ad agency survey should not come as a surprise to anyone. Obviously Andrew McEvoy isn’t surprised. The fact is that Australia is viewed as a poor service, poor value destination. What is surprising is that no one in Tourism Australia or the Government in general, seems to care or want to do something to rectify the problem. All they do is spend our tax dollars on endless expensive marketing and promotional campaigns, when our tourism and hospitality product is a long way from being market ready. What they are doing is damaging Australia’s brand and doing more harm than good because the actual experience of visiting Australia and experiencing poor service and poor value, is a tourism KILLER. Nothing will change until those in authority decide to get their heads out of the clouds and tackle the problem once and for all.
The Appraiser, Hotel Evaluations Sydney.