Page 6 - Flipbook

go
David Bostock / Shutterstock.com
ready, set,
AUSTRALIA
Light and easy
There’s a new way to get around the
central Gold Coast with the arrival of G:link, Queensland’s first light rail system. Fast, frequent trams connect 16 stations along a 13 kilometre route from Broadbeach to Gold Coast University Hospital.
14 air-conditioned trams, each carrying up to 309 passengers, operate every
7.5 minutes at peak times, from 5am to midnight on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends (Friday and Saturday nights). As well as providing dedicated space
for wheelchairs and prams, the trams also include a very Gold Coast feature - surfboard racks.
The G:link website provides a route map, station and destination information, timetables and live service updates or you can download the G:Link app for Android or Apple. You can plan your journey using trams, buses and/or trains and find ticket and fare (including gocard) information.
G:link is a partnership with Queensland Government, the Commonwealth of Australia and GoldLinQ. The partnership are pursuing a second stage of the network to link Gold Coast University Hospital with the heavy rail line to Brisbane.
For more information visit the website www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au
It’s no wonder Hobbits live here.
NEW ZEALAND
Journey to Middle Earth
Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand are calling out to keen Hobbit fans to take an ultimate Middle-earth journey to New Zealand.
Gearing up for the 17 December release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand have joined with New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures, to launch The Hobbit Fan Fellowship Contest.
Launched before 6,500 fans at Comic-Con International, an entertainment and comic convention in San Diego, the competition will select 75 winners who can each take a friend to New Zealand where they will spend a week journeying to famous filming locations and tourist hotspots throughout New Zealand, culminating in the ultimate experience for every Hobbit fan – a private screening of the final film with Sir Peter Jackson himself.
Air New Zealand will be responsible for bringing the army of global Hobbit fans to Middle-earth for incredible once-in-a- lifetime experience.
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon “This global competition is an incredibly exciting prize for any Hobbit fan as well as a significant platform to be able to show travellers that visiting Middle earth can be an easy reality.”
Entries for The Hobbit Fan Fellowship Contest are now open. For further details and to register your interest, go to TheHobbitFanContest.com
Get your geek on in Frodo’s house
CHINA
AU dream destination for Chinese
Australia is at the top of Chinese tourists’ destination wish lists, but is only the 11th most visited country.
A survey of 3,000 Chinese
international travellers by the Hotels.com accommodation booking website finds that more holidaymakers from China want to go to Australia over the next year than anywhere else. Australia edges France, New Zealand, the USA and Switzerland which round out the top five most
desired trips.
Hotels.com’s Regional Director Katherine Cole says Australia matches many of the best features of those destinations.
“Australia ticks all the boxes when it comes to what Chinese travellers are looking for in a holiday destination and
those top things are safety, historical and heritage sites as well as cuisine,” she said. However, the study finds Australia has
an additional winning factor over those other destinations - what it terms “the power of g’day” - which is that Australia is rated the most welcoming country towards Chinese visitors.
Despite everything going for Australia, the nation only ranked 11th amongst destinations last year based on the number of nights booked through Hotels. com’s Chinese website last year. Ms
Cole says that shows there is a massive opportunity for Australian tourism to grow its share of the expanding Chinese market.
By business reporter Michael Janda
4 SEPTEMBER 2014