Australia Tourism News

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Baby wombat Ringo is the new star at WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo

A ten month-old bare-nosed baby wombat made his first appearance at WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo today and was welcomed to the family by three Junior Conservationists.

The adorable furball named Ringo was found as an orphan and has been looked after by his keeper and surrogate mother, Erin Costelloe for the last three weeks. Erin feeds him the bottle every eight hours and puts him to sleep at night. For a nap during the day – when Ringo joins Erin to work – he climbs in a pillowcase that imitates a pouch.

“The orphan was adopted into the WILD LIFE family three weeks ago. At the moment I’m looking after him 24/7 as a baby wombat usually spends up to 18 months of its life with its mother. Sharing my apartment with Ringo has been a really fun experience. Ringo follows me everywhere we go”, says Erin, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo Keeper.

About Ringo:

Ringo is a bare-nosed wombat. He is 10 months old and weighs 6 kg
When he was found he was three months old and weighed 900g
Baby wombats usually stay in the pouch for five months until they are around 3.5 to 6 kg
Ringo loves human company and exploring his surroundings
The size of the average adult bare-nosed wombat ranges from about 90 to 115 cm (length), 36 cm (height) and from 22 to 39 kg (weight)
Their natural habitats are the coastal regions of south-east Australia and Tasmania
Bare-nosed wombats are herbivorous, living off grass, snow tussocks and other plant materials. They usually forage during the night

For more information or to arrange an interview or request further photos, please contact me.

For a video of Ringo playing with puppy dog Elke please click here: https://db.tt/oqrnBTfL

Marvellous Melbourne Package

Book the Marvellous Melbourne package now at Metro Apartments on Bank Place: http://www.metrohotels.com.au/hotels/victoria/metro-apartments-on-bank-place/welcome/

Hosting a World Cup is nice, but the G20 could prove more lucrative

When the powerful gather for the G20 summit in Brisbane this November, the core mandate is to discuss measures to support global economic growth, including trade liberalisation, investment and infrastructure development.

These discussions are very important for tourism – an industry that relies on the free movement of people and goods. Issues such as lifting visa restrictions are central to the mandate of agencies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. In fact, at a time where we believe that people can travel freely wherever and whenever they like to, an astonishing 110 million international tourists – or 17% of all international arrivals – still require paper visas to be able to visit G20 countries.

Reducing barriers through visa requirements is essential for international tourism. Research commissioned by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2014 showed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would gain between 6 to 10 million additional international tourist arrivals by 2016 if they facilitated and improved visa processes.

Tourism relies on safe destinations and political security, something that cannot be emphasised enough in the light of current “conflict hotspots” globally (including the Middle East, Ukraine, and the South China Sea). Some even point to tourism as a force for peace as it fosters inter-cultural understanding and friendly exchange between nations.

Directly, the summit leads to travel of those participating in it. What could be coined “political tourism”, political meetings and conferences induce substantial amounts of travel. For the G20 in Brisbane it is expected that there will be about 4,000 delegates (some of whom will arrive with their families), 3,000 media, and 5,300 police from interstate and New Zealand.

Business tourism is often overlooked when we discuss tourism, but the WTTC established a compelling link between business travel and global trade: one third of growth in trade globally over the last ten years can be attributed to business-related travel and resulting increases in corporate productivity. WTTC’s analysis also shows that if business travel was reduced by one quarter for two consecutive years, global GDP would be 5% lower than if travel continued as normal.

The average business tourist in Australia spends A$280 per night, compared with a holiday visitor who spends $162.

Research on the economic benefit of G8 and G20 summits valued the 2009 and 2010 US and Canada summits at US$135 million and US$95.4 million respectively. The benefits measured include the immediate spending of participants and longer-term effects of increased investment, infrastructure and training. Similar numbers have been advanced as an estimate for the Brisbane summit.

How is Australia performing?

Eleven out of Australia’s top 20 international markets are G20 members. Amongst these are key markets such as China, the US, Japan, Korea and the UK. Other G20 countries, such as Russia, Brazil or Saudi Arabia, are not yet in the top 20 markets to Australia, but are seen as promising “emerging markets”.

Considering many of the traditional markets to Australia have been stagnating since the global financial crisis, and emerging markets are experiencing fast growth, increasing destination awareness in these countries represents a significant opportunity.

But focusing on one event, and dedicating tourism infrastructure to it, may also crowd out other forms of tourism, for example leisure tourists. Research on sport mega events has found that peaks in arrivals due to the event can be followed by a “low” in visitation, because participants or spectators time their visit for the event. This may be less relevant for political summits. However there might be other risks associated with political tourism. Hosting a political summit always bears the risk of “counter-summits” and activism that might undermine the destination image.

From a research perspective, major events have been analysed mainly with a focus on mega-sport events, for example Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and FIFA World Cups. Political summits have received very limited attention (with some exceptions).

Research to establish whether political events are different from other events, perhaps because of their political nature and the types of delegates, is yet to be undertaken, and the Brisbane G20 provides an excellent opportunity to research the economic impact of the summit, and compare it to other events hosted previously in Australia.

Source: http://theconversation.com/hosting-a-world-cup-is-nice-but-the-g20-could-prove-more-lucrative-28323

Monday, June 30, 2014

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah - The Beatles are back in Australia!

50 years after their first visit to Australia, Sydney welcomes George, John, Paul and Ringo again. Celebrating their arrival, The Beatles ‘walked’ in line across a pedestrian crossing in front of Sydney’s Opera House to re-enact the iconic Abbey Road album cover.

Back on tour, just like they were in 1964, the fab four have just landed from Tokyo and will be part of an interactive exhibit at Madame Tussauds in Darling Harbour. The visit will be for a limited time only however, as the group will jet off to San Francisco for the last leg of their tour in September.

The exhibit features the band in their late 1960s-era styling and allows fans to stand in line with the band to create their very own personalised album cover.

Just like their whirlwind tour five decades ago, these four iconic wax figures will only be on show at Madame Tussauds Sydney for a limited time. Not only can guests interact with the famous four, but can also recreate a moment of Beatles history in their very own Abbey Road album cover.
An Iconic Band

Madame Tussauds first held sittings with The Beatles in 1964, and were the first ever rock band to be featured at Madame Tussauds. For the new touring figures, the Madame Tussauds studio team have used a combination of the sitting measurements and additional image research including a number of image references from the 1969 Abbey Road photo shoot.

The style of the figures is based on their styling around the time, not long before the band's dissolution in 1970.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah - The Beatles are back in Australia!

History of the Capitol Theatre - Saving Sydney's Iconic Theatre

The Capitol Story: Saving Sydney's Iconic Theatre

Early Days
Construction of Belmore Markets begins on the current site of the Capitol Theatre in 1866 as Sydney’s first permanent fruit and vegetable market. Belmore Markets was later dismantled and re-erected as the Hippodrome. All of the features of the original market are retained in the outer shell of the theatre today.
In 1916, Wirth’s Circus and Hippodrome opens – the largest theatre in Australia.

After its conversion from the Wirth Bros Hippodrome, the ‘new’ Capitol Theatre opened in 1928 as Australia’s first ‘atmospheric’ Picture Palace. The 2,999 auditorium was transformed to an open-air Florentine garden, complete with artificial foliage, flocks of birds, statues, swirling clouds & twinkling stars.

Originally the theatre showed movies, with a Wurlitzer organ, stage band & Capitol Ballet dancers. This same organ now resides at the Orion Centre in Campsie where people can still come to hear it play.

Belmore Markets
Nestled in the historic Haymarket district, the building itself began its life in 1892 as the Belmore markets. The market’s motif of fruit and foliage may still be seen in the terra cotta decorative relief of fruit and foliage in the spandrels of the arches.

Circus Days
In 1916 the building was converted to a hippodrome designed specifically for the Wirth Bros circus. Part of the specification was the reinforced concrete water tank 12 metres in diameter and 3.6 metres deep for performances by seals and polar bears. The tank had a hydraulically controlled platform that was raised from the base to form a cover that doubled as a circus ring when the pool was not in use. This tank still exists but is covered by the new floor.

Picture Palace
Within 10 years the circus became financially unviable and Wirth Bros initiated the idea of converting the theatre to a picture palace or movie theatre. In 1927 John Eberson, a renowned American designer of theatrically themed theatres, was commissioned to create the Capitol Theatre for its new tenant, Union Theatres. The classical reproduction statues and architectural props were manufactured in the US, scrupulously numbered for shipment and reassembly – supervised by Sydney theatre designer Henry White.

Opening Night
The Sydney Morning Herald covered the opening in 1928:
“The effect of the new Capitol Theatre on the crowds which entered it on Saturday night was bewildering and a little overwhelming. One seemed to have stepped from under the dull skies of everyday life and passed into an enchanted region where the depth of the blue heavens had something magical about it and something heavily exotic, clouds passed lightly over then stars began to twinkle. Then again all was blue and clear.”

Glory Days
In 1928 people were attracted into the theatre to escape to a different world, they were captivated by the whimsical decor and the lavishness of the surroundings. They went to hear the orchestra and the mighty Wurlitzer, to watch the newsreel and soak up everything Hollywood had to offer. But for the Capitol, the glory days were over before they had started. Greater Union was hit hard by the depression and by 1933 when the theatre was converted for talkies, it was already showing second rate movies.

Changing Times
In 1945 there were 151 million admissions to Australian cinemas, the biggest year in Australian movie history, but by 1958 Australians had been seduced by television and more than 20% of Sydney cinemas had closed. It was a grim time for many theatres and without major investment the Capitol’s future looked bleak. In 1972, Harry M. Miller presented Jesus Christ Superstar which had a successful two-year run but time, lack of funds and vandalism had taken their toll and the Capitol was in ruins.

Saving an Icon
By the end of the 1970’s it seemed the only real value was the land, the Sydney City Council considered demolition to allow a new lyric theatre to be built on the site. But in 1981 Australia’s last remaining atmospheric theatre was snatched from the jaws of the bulldozer by a Heritage Council conservation order and plans were made to restore the building and create a world-class lyric theatre.

Restoration
For the first time in its history the theatre underwent a complete and thorough restoration that took two years and cost over $30m to complete. The orchestra pit was expanded with space for 110 musicians. New dressing rooms and technical areas incorporated part of the old tunnels used by the animals in the theatre's former life as a hippodrome.

The fly-tower was extended to become 30 metres high and 37 metres wide extending nine metres into Hay Street making it one of the largest in Australia. In July 1995 an acclaimed production of Miss Saigon put the Capitol back on the world stage.

Finally the Capitol had the second chance it deserved and Sydney has a theatre to be proud of.

Source: http://capitoltheatre.com.au/index.php/about-us/history-of-the-capitol

Coming to Capitol Theatre for a show?
Want to stay close to the theatre while in Sydney?

Metro Hotel Sydney Central is located directly opposite the Capitol Theatre. It is a smoke-free hotel offering free WiFi and located only minutes away from Sydney attractions such as Darling Harbour, Cockle Bay Wharf, Star City Casino, Sydney Entertainment Centre, Paddy's Markets and the city's dining and cinema districts. Public transport is conveniently close with Sydney’s Central Station and the Coach terminal less than five minutes walk.

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accommodation near capitol theatre - metro hotel sydney

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Bob Dylan Touring Australia & Sydney Opera House

It took a while but at age 73, Bob Dylan is set to play his first-ever concert at the Sydney Opera House as part of his upcoming Australian tour.

Dylan, who is also playing three shows at the State Theatre, ends his Australian tour at the world-famous waterfront venue in the Concert Hall on September 7.

But tickets for the Opera House show - which go on sale at 8am on July 4 - don't come cheap. Standard tickets start at $199 although for a music legend the top tier is a comparatively reasonable $249.

Comparative to say, Barbra Streisand, who is considered to be the most expensive legacy act, with her lowest-priced tickets often priced over $500 and up to $1500.

There is no indication yet that luxury or plantinum-type packages will be available.

Dylan's tour begins in Perth on August 13 and takes in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide before reaching Sydney. Tickets went on sale on June 3 and are sold out for Sydney's State Theatre shows and believed to be nearly sold out for Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Dylan's place as one of the most important innovators in contemporary music history is expected to be further underlined at a Sotheby's auction on Tuesday in New York. His handwritten lyrics for the song Like A Rolling Stone are expected to fetch over $US530,000 ($565,000).

A Sotheby's employee shows the handwritten lyrics for Bob Dylan's <i>Like a Rolling Stone</i> song that is up for auction.

A Sotheby's employee shows the handwritten lyrics for Bob Dylan's
Like a Rolling Stone song that is up for auction. Photo: Reuters

Richard Austin, head of Tuesday's two-part sale at Sotheby's told AFP it was the first time a six-minute single was released, allowing people to go beyond short format, and marked one of the first cases of viral marketing.

Executives opposed its release because of its length, but an employee took it to a nightclub where it played all night, leading to DJs to clamour Columbia records for its eventual release, which came in 1965.

Austin said there was "a lot of interest" in both sets of Dylan lyrics ahead of the auction, calling them a "wonderful thing just to see."

Dylan's final lyrics for the protest anthem A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall also go under the hammer, estimated to be worth $US400,000-$US600,000 by Sotheby's.

The auction celebrates various rock performers who have gripped the world for the past 60 years.

A piano first played by Lennon when he was recording the album Imagine and later played in multiple studios by him, Dylan and Reed, among others, is valued at $US100,000 to $US200,000.

Among the other items are the infamous contract that Jimi Hendrix signed in 1965, in which he agreed to play exclusively for record label PPX for just one American dollar. It's valued at $US100,000 to $US200,000.

BOB DYLAN TOUR DATES

August 13-14 - Riverside Theatre, PCEC, Perth (All Ages)
ticketek.com.au, 132 849

August 18-20 - Palais Theatre, Melbourne (All Ages)
ticketmaster.com.au, 136100

August 25 - Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (All Ages)
ticketek.com.au, 132 849

August 29 - Royal Theatre, Canberra (All Ages)
ticketek.com.au, 132 849

August 31 - Entertainment Centre, Adelaide (All Ages)
ticketek.com.au, 132 849

September 3-5 - State Theatre, Sydney (All Ages)
ticketmaster.com.au, 136100

September 7 - Sydney Opera House (All Ages)
sydneyoperahouse.com, (02) 9250 7777

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/bob-dylan-to-play-first-sydney-opera-house-gig-20140623-zsikp.html

Need accommodation in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne or Perth for Bob Dylan's Australian tour?

Try Metro Hotels - we have 3 conveniently located hotels and apartment in the centre of Sydney, boutique serviced-apartments in Melbourne and hotels in Brisbane CBD and Perth:

New South Wales (Sydney CBD):

Victoria (Melbourne CBD):