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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...