Australian Open 2010 Update

The world’s hottest tennis players return to Melbourne Park in January, 2010, when the Australian Open tennis hits town. Sportsnet holidays have been flat out producing the best Australian Open packages for the event & I am happy to say we are caning last years figures (thanks everyone).
Roger Federer returns after a successful year in which he completed his career Grand Slam, whilst Rafael Nadal will be back to defend his throne as Aust Open Champion, as will Serena Williams. Australian Open tickets will be at a premium as young guns like Del Potro, Djokovic, Murray, Ivanovic, Dementieva and Safina aspire to the crown, as Australia’s own Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Sam Stosur try to do us proud on Rod Laver Arena.
Will we see a repeat of last years epic Mens Final battle between Fed and Rafa, or renewed hostilities between the Williams sisters and the Russians? My money in on Kim & Justine to make the front page in the first week and with wild cards you could see them close up in the outer courts . I am having a break before the tennis as we have hundreds of tickets to get out and there are always loads of last minute bookings once Hopman Cup & the feeder tournaments like Medibank & Hobart kick in. So I dont need to remind you not to wait until its kicked off to book as it will be tight in 2010 judging on business volumes to date.

2010 Basketball World Championship Draw

2010 FIBA World Championship Basketball Draw in Istanbul Australia has drawn in Group A with Argentina, Serbia, Germany, Angola and Jordan. Package is currently through Show but we are hoping to do our own to compliment our Sportsnet Holidays NBA All Stars Weekend package
Turkey is a great destination and it is Boomers & Opals together in a location where you are a bus ride from Galipoli and a ferry ride from the Greek Island need I say more......

Motor Sports are keeping me busy.

It been a busy time for Sportsnet Holidays favorite friends “petrol heads” of all kinds. The Bathurst 1000 has been a sold out success for us 2010. This year’s Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang was our best to date, then we sold out our Philip Island MotoGP offer and to top it off the good weather turned up and Casey burned up the track in his come back on home soil. This weekend was the Gold Coast V8 Supercars or is it the NitroGP or Surfers Paradise V8s or maybe it’s the Queensland A1GP or the Gold Coast Indy 300? Email me if you can work it out. I was offered a spot on a boat moored just off the start/finish line by my good mate John at CruiseawayHolidays.com.au but I didn’t take it (kids cricket match) as it turned out this weekend as far as thrills and spills goes was a cracker and I am kicking myself. Putting aside our flurry of last min Derby Day Packages and the 2010 Australian Open Tennis, we have Clipsal 500 out for next year, we have the Townsville 400 up which was a sell out for us last year and we have just made a big booking for the Hamilton 400 V8 in NZ today (AB take a bow). For those who like their open wheel racing and still feel let down by the whole A1GP farrago our Melbourne Grand Prix packages are getting a bit of traction so don’t spend too long thinking about it. While I can’t promise the Gold Coast grid girls or the Surfers Paradise beach front I reckon this year’s evening race format for the 2010 Australian Grand Prix will be a scorcher.

The Ashes 2010 Dates, Ashes Series 2010-11

The Ashes 2010 dates have been released for the Ashes Series 2010 Gabba Nov 25
Adelaide Dec 3
Perth Dec 16.
Melbourne Dec 26-30
Sydney Jan 3

The Boxing day test 2010 Melbourne at the MCG that is the one which will be the make or break if it is 2 to 1 1 all and draw 2 draws etc

I already have the Sportsnet Holidays Ashes Cricket Series 2010-11 page up for registrations. I think Ashes cricket tours that have Ashes tickets and Cricket tour friendly hotels will be massive. Imagine if England could retain the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia. I can not imagine what would happen if it was at the boxing day test. I think most Aussie cricket fanatics would opt for a New Zealand passport rather than lose the Ashes at the G.

Spring into action

September always heralds a period of madness in the sports travel business as it means we literally spring into action and it rarely pauses until after the Australian F1 Grand Prix in late summer.

September means footy finals and we have huge numbers for the AFL Grand Final packages and NRL Grand Final packages. There are a few late nights coming up with last minute bookings as fans realize their team is going to get there and as we assemble hundreds of travel packs with grand final tickets, hotels documents and various other goodies while organizing our Sportsnet functions and speakers.

As that one day in September (or early October) passed for both codes there is no time to take a breather as hard on the heels of footy is the Philip Island Moto GP event and the Bathurst V8 races. Both events have something challenging in common for a sports travel company. They are in the country; there is limited accommodation and huge demand. We had booked out most of our top flight accommodation in and around both events months ago. No matter how hard you want to please the fans, at this time of year you are either staying up in Melbourne and transferring down to the track or looking at dorm accommodation around Bathurst for the Mount Panorama races. That all said it never seems to distract the fans from the enjoying what they really came for the sights, sounds and smell of motor sports.

Tennis Travel & Sportsnet Holidays Banners

I got this photo off our Sportsnet Holidays facebook site. It was taken during the 2009 Australian Open and I am angling to use it in our Australian Open 2010 marketing. As the enquires are starting to flow for Wimbledon 2009 and The French Open I was thinking how I would love to see one of our role out banners at either event. While they are great for the Open in Melbourne where the fans have alot of fun they don't seem very Lawn Tennis or Roland Garros.

We also just got a new offical image for the 2010 Hopman Cup I have been pleasantly suprised by how many people have got themselves organised to sign up for the Hopman Cup and The 2010 Australian Open.

Sports travel is the best reward or incentive to use in product promotions or loyalty programs.

One of the fun things about being involved with a successful sports travel and sports tours company is getting involved with sports personalities and the media. Most people do get a thrill (me included) when they see something they have done, organised or been in appear in the media. We have always tried to develop relationships with marketing companies and brands who are looking for product promotions and prizes to utilise in a marketing campaign or to use for their loyalty and incentive marketing.

I read a survey once that basically said employees and customers like; time off, cash or travel as a reward or incentive. While there is plenty of big travel brands out there we have made a great niche for ourselves combining sports and travel for use in loyalty programs and product promotions and it's allot of fun. Lets face it we all like to travel and we all like to attend big name events. So last year I had the buzz of walking around a supermarket chain knowing we were the guys sending the prize winner to their choice of one of the worlds greatest sporting events. Similarly I also got the buzz each time I opened a certain chocolate bar to see another one of our promotions which included a well known local TV personality, what can I say chocolate, travel, sport and celebrity, if only i could have got red wine in there it would have been near perfect.

Although we have developed a good rapport with a TV station and a couple of well known incentive marketing agencies you don't get many employee incentive bookings or household name product promotions is a week but when they come it really adds to the buzz about the place, if only I could stick our brand name all over them then everything would be perfect.

We got a few on the boil at the moment, a large building company supplier and Pedders is being rolled out right now.

What do you think ? Are sports travel experiences the best way to promote a product or develop customer and staff loyalty ?

2009 Australian Grand Prix will be a winner.

The first Grand Prix event of 2009 is now within sight and there is lots of concern about how the Global Financial crisis will affect the Aussie Grand Prix event.
If the Australian Open Tennis is anything to go by then it will go off. The tennis was packed, Melbourne was really humming and despite 40C plus days the stars really turned it on.
We had our biggest year for the tennis ever and even ended up with Wimbledon and French Open bookings as a result of all the online enquires so I think the Grand Prix will be a scorcher.
Why will it work ? The tennis has helped to focus the publics’ sporting eye on Melbourne which always helps. The Australian Formula One Grand Prix is the first race of the year so for petrol heads like us there are new cars, new teams, new gear for the fans and plenty of low down on who is doing what, where and with whom. The race has had a bit of a makeover after being re-secured for Melbourne which will give it a lift. The Albert Park Grand Prix course is a classic with a good balance between a street circuit like the Monaco GP and a track like the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The prepping of the track kicks off this month which really builds the buzz. Moving the Melbourne F1 to the end of March will make it less likely to be really hot and with Easter around the corner numbers should be up were as in previous years it had been hard on the heels of the tennis and the AFL pre-season competition and in life, as in sport, timing is everything. There are some more concrete indicators that this year it will go well for Grand Prix travel and these are; we have had more advance bookings this year than in other years and the enquires are there even before the big guns have started with all the PR and marketing bizzo. So I think the pessimists be dammed, the 2009 Australian Grand Prix should get the numbers, maybe not the corporate clients but so what, it’s the fans, the teams and the drivers that make an event not how many accountants turn up. With so many international sporting events in Europe and the America’s it’s a great time of year for us, after the Melbourne Grand Prix it is into Asia with the 3 S’s, Sepang (Malaysian Grand Prix), the Singapore F1 and Shanghai and with only a 2 hour time difference meaning we can watch it live without getting up a 4am, so bring on the 2009 GP season.

AFL Travel in 2009

A few years ago we had an article published in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald about home and away AFL travel and we have just finished putting together some AFL Travel Packages for 2009 AFL home and away season. So what has changed since then? The main difference is the internet. In the old days it was print adds, marketing lists with phone numbers and contacts with in clubs. These days it is mostly online and it is easier and cheaper than ever to travel interstate to watch the footy. There is a huge range of airfares that suit the footy, more airlines are traveling to Melbourne, there are more hotels to choose from and importantly “the weekend away” is firmly entrenched in the minds of the footy fan. These days there is so much more to do before and after the game. If you drive over from Adelaide or down from NSW and the ACT it is more than just coming to Melbourne for the game. In 2009 it is about seeing the sites like Eureka Sky Deck, eating out before the game, visiting a few bars, doing a bit of factory outlet or laneway shopping. It seems there is always a sizeable number of interstate footy fans in club colours at the Vic Market every Saturday or Sunday. The venues themselves have caught on and offer more and more. The latest is the new National Sports Museum at the G, the park between the G and the city has really come into its own and there are now masses of entertainment, accommodation and eating options around the Dome and Southern Cross station both before and after the game as well as a million opportunities to spend a fortune while you are in the venue. Gone are the days of a motel in Brunswick and a wet and windy tram ride to Princess Park with fish and chips on Sydney Road on the way home, nice memories but I am enjoying the modern creature comforts and the modern game.

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.