Xmas sports gift post what did i forget?

Ms Santa in Xmas marketing pointed out that I failed to mention in my blog, 2008 must have Xmas gifts for the sports fan post our very own Sportsnet Holidays gift vouchers. I wasn't aware at the time that Santas Elves actually had access to our website to distribute these vouchers, but hey those Elves they can be tricky. So yes it is not too late if you are stuck for an idea to buy a Sportsnet Holidays gift voucher to use against any of our hundreds of sports travel packages and experiences. Given my oversight I will make sure the Elves work hard to get it delivered on time.

Good luck shoppers and remember it is AFL draft week and only 10 sleeps to the boxing day cricket test and then more EPL matches in a week than you can shake a stick at. Then what do you know it will be 2009 and just a few weeks to the Australian Open followed by the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Xmas sports gift, what do you really need on a sports tour?

You have either done the Xmas shop by now or you haven’t it is a big natural divide in society with some gender variations. So if you haven’t, what gift idea would the travelling sports fan need in 2009? What could Santa’s Elves knock up out the back in the shed for use in sports travel and tours? After all the intrepid sports tour participant faces some challenges and we often are prepared to suffer for our passion.

When you get to the tennis or you are in pit lane in the blistering heat or your bum is numb and you are half frozen and half dead with worry at the footy you often think, "one of them" would be a good idea or why hasn’t someone invented "x". So I asked the team at Sportsnet holidays what gift would you have the Elves bang out in the shed for this year.

This was their list of ideas:
An easy to fold inflatable travel cushion for a numb bum on the plastic seats at the 20:20 or the Bledisloe Cup. Thermally heated gloves with a USB recharger for those freezing NRL games or winter AFL footy days.An event tee shirt with sun screen imbedded in the right sleeve so every time you wiped your face or neck you topped up your sun screen at the Australian Open or the Johnny Walker Golf.A sports drink with statins or beta blockers in it to lower your blood pressure and anxiety at crucial points in the grand final when your team is looking wobbly.A portable periscope for the occasions when you end up sitting behind a giant at any event but especially the Tennis.A back pack with special non crumple Chip and sandwich pouch for the cricket and those other all day events.A posture enhancing device for those inevitable periods of standing sitting and waiting in general admission areas at the V8 Supercars, F1 or Horse RacingAn MP3 player with AM receiver for serious cricket and other sports commentary. A hat with Camera on continuous stills record so you don’t miss those magic moments trying to get ready for a photo at the Horse Racing, the Superbowl or your only game of EPL while in England.
A credit card that automatically orders and gets delivered either, chocolate, flowers or wine to the other half by remembering the dates of the event from your online ticket purchase so you can enjoy the event with a clear conscience
A dictionary of witty retorts & come backs for all sporting occasions where you get bagged by the opposing fans and various BBQ smart @rses about the performance of your beloved team, country, state or player. A Sports top in team or event colours that doesn’t make you smell and has a sliming factor of 10 in photos and videos.
Finally, a special taxi detector and public transport decoder for getting back to the hotel after the event because we can always get there but for some reason but getting back often turns into a mystery tour.

Have a great Chrissy and I hope stocking (sporting orthopedic support doesn’t sound as nice) contains the gifts you wished for.

Sports travel in 2009

Who would of imagined that two English Premier League teams would take to the field in 2008 with no sponsorship logos on their guernsey (or is the jersey?) but it happened and in perhaps the best known sports league in the world the EPL.

How will the current turmoil affect sports travel in 2009?

There are a number of variables that illuminate this question but there will be some ups and downs, hopefully mostly ups for sports tours fans.

The sports teams, administrative bodies and venues will be directly effected by the loss of sponsorship revenue. Apart from there being less bucks to go around sponsors will want more bang for less buck.

This will mean less money for clubs in sports where there is a draft or other forms of central support so so well financed (low debt) or big clubs will thrive but for others there are tough times are ahead.

Less sponsor money will mean either much less or even more sponsorship of more aspects of the events. In 2009 expect to hear, "oh a what a controversial decision from Reynolds the Axesmith Bank personal home loan match referee" and other such things like, "that's 22 hits to 14 on the maths utopia home study DVD score board".

On the dip side for the fans it will mean no new stadium facilities and either lower cost or a hike club memberships and season tickets with less add on benefits depending on the state of your club or sporting bodies finances.

So what is the upside for the sports traveller ?

There is plenty of up from what we can see so far as we roll out the 2009 Sportsnet Holidays events. Most importantly pricing is very much in line with 2008 so far which in an era when every thing cost more is great. We are seeing that we have to work much harder to keep and gain new sports travelers. This means that we have to offer more than just great seats and good hotels.

I think 2009 will shape up to be the year of the options. What that means for the traveller is more grand stands more up grades more features in a package. We have just called all our early bookers for the 2009 Townsville V8 Supercars to offer grandstand upgrades and I can see this becoming a regular event.

A slowing economy will see the airlines offering more spot specials to keep bums on seats and for the Aussie or Kiwi traveller who has to travel great distances to get to the events especially motor sports, tennis and footy this is good news.

As the corporate travellers seek to cut business travel expenses top end hotels for the premium sports traveller will become better value.

Lastly tough times economically bring out the best in many people it comes down to go hard or go home and this leads to innovations in travel so I expect 2009 to bring some new and interesting ways of doing things, proof of this is simple we did a Melbourne Cup package with a breakfast before the race meeting at the Eureka Tower Sky Deck, it sold out so we doubled the size and it sold out again! AB one our product whizzes came up with a Darwin Hidden Valley V8 Supercar package featuring a Ford vs Holden fishing charter option and you guessed it, its gone off.

So I think 2009 will be great for the sports traveller, cheaper airfares, in line event pricing, better hotel options and some cool new products. Lets see how it goes only a month to go...

Summer sports travel

Sunburn at the Horse Racing this past week has been a gentle reminder that summer is coming. For the sports traveller that means motor sport and tennis. What about cricket I hear you say? Well the Ashes are being staged in England this time round so that means pride of place on the Australian sporting calendar goes to The Australian Open (on the turf) to The Australian Grand Prix (on the track).

At Sportsnet Holidays, ticket & hotel packages to both Tennis Australia’s 2009 Australian Open and the Melbourne F1 GP have been hot off the blocks this year with no sign that the economy is stopping sports fans from booking sports packages.

Although both events are in Melbourne and sports tour packages have been released for a while now, it should be remembered that for the tennis and motor sports fans there are lots of other events going on across the country.

Tennis travel to Adelaide, Perth and Sydney are as popular as ever. The Adelaide international, this year is called the World Tennis Challenge and is a great opportunity to take in a few stars, a few premium wine districts and a gourmet food region or two. If that’s not your style, try the beach at Glenelg or Victor Harbour.

Perth’s Hopman Cup is the slow burner of Tennis Travel, always popular and always excellent value. Hopman attracts great names and is an excellent opportunity to see Perth, take a dip in the Indian Ocean at Scarborough Beach, wander through Freemantle or escape the heat on Rottnest Island. For those with more time and a car there exist the delights of Margaret River and the tall timbers of the Jarra forests.

Although it is off topic, if you can’t make Perth for the tennis, the 2009 Johnny Walker Golf Classic is also in Perth and has a host of big names have signed up to attend.

For those of us who like our sport with lashings of noise and loads of torque, then aside from the Australian F1 GP there is the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. This is a massively successful event that has maintained its premier position among V8 Supercar sports fans as the other must see event after The Bathurst 1000. Another big V8 Supercar event worth travelling to in the near future includes The Townsville 400 where you can stay on Magnetic Island and take the ferry to the track every day - not so much “surf and turf” but more beach and bitumen. Don’t forget Hidden Valley V8 Supercars in Darwin which in 2009 comes with a Ford boat versus Holden boat fishing trip option. While the 2009 Darwin V8 with fishing trip is my choice I reckon the other half in my life is firmly locked into the Townsville 400 with Magnetic Island option…and my guess is she will not be taking the ferry to the track every day.

We’ve learned from all the sunburn so like last year, our packages will again include a hat and small tube of sun block in our tennis and grand prix tour packages.

If the dollar picks up I might review the great options for the 2009 northern hemisphere summer with Masters Golf, The Ashes Series, Wimbledon, The French Open and the Tour De France all being released between now and Christmas (and I didn’t say that word, it wasn’t me).

Booking a sports holiday

It has struck me recently that it is not as easy as it seems to book a sports holiday.

Firstly there is a lot on offer including: sports travel, sports tours, sports holiday, sports vacations and so on.

Secondly, I guess the key thing that separates sports travelers or travellers if you are in the US or have your computer settings on US English. For us there is a sports event or activity that is the lynch pin around which the whole trip sits. From then on in it gets kind of messy as everyone is after something different and no two travelers seem to want the same thing.

Thirdly there are a lot of sites to choose from and being able to answer, “what term do I start putting into the internet to search is a good start? "

Whatever sports travel agent website site you come up with the most important thing is to check it has a real street address and phone number and if you can’t find it on Google Earth or another mapping site don’t go putting any money into that website payment gateway.

For my money I think buying a package that is built around official tickets and a hotel is the key to getting what you want. From this point in you can build your trip around this cornerstone because every event is different and everyone has a different budget and that is where some websites get it wrong.

If you are going all the way to Malaysia to watch the Sepang F1 Grand Prix you are probably going to take in a bit more of Malaysia or South East Asia than just the race event, so you are going to need a full service travel agent, but you may want to get your sports holiday from one guy and the rest of your travel through your regular agent. If you are working in Singapore, Jakarta or Hong Kong you could hop over to Kuala Lumpur and head down to Sepang Formula 1 GP for the a few days so you are going to make different arrangements and don’t want to be locked by the package. It is the same rules for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, if you are booking a Melbourne GP F1 tour then Australia is a long way away and Melbourne is far from Sydney so keep the grand prix travel package simple so I can be flexible with how I get there and how long I stay.

So I reckon they should keep sports travel packages simple, just make it a minimum of: tickets & a hotel, anything extra is great, offer a range of hotels because fans come is all budget sizes and TICKET or GRAND UPGRADES are a must please. If you have been to an event before or you know your sport then you probably know where you want to be at the stadium or at the track and if it is a once in a life time experience you are probably going to spend up big, so keep those sports holiday package options flexible.