News
Don't call them backpackers
Backpackers who visit Australia could soon be renamed ‘adventure tourists’, in an attempt to appeal to the more sophisticated travellers who carry packs
Many of the big wigs in Australia's travel industry want to re-label backpackers, and have met recently in Cairns to determine how to reflect the image of the youth and adventure travel market.
The conference was attended by about 650 tourism operators, and many insisted that the term 'backpacker' was avoided by many Europeans. Tourism operators claimed that dropping the term 'backpacker' from their business names had resulted in an instant jump in bookings for tours and accommodation.
Chairman of the Backpacker Tourism Industry Advisory Board, Julian Ledger, says the industry needs to create a new image to increase the budget travel figures across Australia. Ledger says the word 'backpacker' conjures up images of wild and penniless young people, but says that nothing could be further from the truth. He thought that while the term 'backpacker' was not derogatory, it seems to have become a bit of an anachronism. Increasingly, he says, we are seeing backpackers that are not necessarily financially stretched – or even carrying a pack.
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20 December 2006