Australasian Leisure Management

Industry publications: are they credible?, are they read?

2011-12-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

With the growth in the quantity and the geographical spread of the news published on the http://www.ausleisure.com and its associated websites, the recent past has seen me reflect on my role as a publisher at Australian Leisure Media along with a number of issues related to industry publications.
In compiling the latest issue, we have focussed on what we publish online and what we publish in the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine.
We have decided that the printed magazine will focus on features, which act as an ongoing reference resource for industry professionals, with the news published in Australasian Leisure Management magazine giving a flavour of the main developments in the industry during our bi-monthly publication cycle.
In turn the http://www.ausleisure.com website is able to publish a vast amount of news on the vibrant leisure industry.
In assessing our approach to what we publish, and where we publish it, we have reaffirmed a commitment to our news, along with our features, being subject to the highest independent editorial standards.
In addition, and where necessary, we also scrutinise and question in order to equip you, our readers with the best possible information from which you can make informed decisions.
This has made us reflect on issues of quality, and the difference between our role as a publisher, rather than media that simply republishes media releases without questioning claims that may be made therein. Neither do we display partiality, only publishing what favours a particular organisation, or backing specific programs while ignoring others.
Sadly, this is not the case with other publications and online resources that claim to be representative of parts of this industry. Some won't report on what they see as being rival events, programs or initiatives – airbrushing rival organisations out of their self-centred view of the industry or promoting the work of chosen consultants and other professional service providers over others.
Then there is the role of academic and refereed publications. Having been the co-founder Routledge’s Managing Leisure journal, I am well aware of the importance of such journals. However, rather like academic orientated conferences, such journals can be driven by the contributors in order to support and justify their academic tenure, rather than whether they are actually read by anything other than a specialised audience. Because of this, such publications have an obligation to not just be accessible to fellow academics and faculty student but to the wider industry.
With that in mind it has been reassuring to see recent academic and studies orientated conferences bridge this gap. Day one of the recent three-day Sport Management of Australia and New Zealand (SMAANZ) Annual Conference featured an industry-led Sport Business Forum while next week’s Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) conference will include a session on bridging the gap between academia and the industry.
While these conference developments are encouraging, when professionals read what is published online or in printed industry publications, they need to be sure that what they are reading is committed to the same standards of industry development rather than the cause of self interest.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.
www.ausleisure.com

Challenging times for sports retailers

2011-08-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

In Australia's two tier economy conventional retailing is a sector that is particularly hard pressed.
With online shopping in Australia predicted to grow at twice the speed of traditional retail in the next four years, many retailers in Australia's high streets and malls are struggling.
According to a recent report from PwC and Frost & Sullivan, almost half the $13.6 billion Australians will spend online this year will go offshore, up $2 billion to $6 billion, as consumers make a "structural shift" to online.
Explaining the report, PwC's global retail and consumer advisory leader Stuart Harker stated "large and small retailers alike are facing stronger than ever competition from digital channels, both here and overseas.
"Lower prices, convenience, greater product range and a growth in mobile devices are all factors fuelling online shopping."
Nowhere is this change being felt more than in sports retailing, where local retailers face the additional disadvantage of often being charged higher wholesale prices by local brands, manufacturers and distributors than overseas based online retailers.
Two recent examples highlight this challenge.
The first comes from across the Tasman Sea, where, earlier this month, the NZ$250 retail price of adidas' 2011 Rugby World Cup replica All Black jersey was contrasted with what US-based online retailers are charging - less than NZ$100 after currency conversion. (The full story can be read at http://www.ausleisure.com.au/default.asp?PageID=2&Display=True&ReleaseID=4412).
Closer to home, when driving my 12-year old son from football at the weekend I heard him and a friend discuss why your wouldn't buy an English Premier League replica jersey from Rebel Sport when you could order it online for less than half the cost.
In the case of the All Blacks jersey, when adidas was scrutinised by New Zealand's media, the company refused to change its pricing, even argueing that New Zealander's should loyalty to local retailers by buying locally while at the same time favouring its offshore retailers with significantly better wholesale pricing.
In this climate, the loss to Australian retailers, and the Australian economy, is considerable as, if offshore online sales were directed to Australian retailers, forecast retail sales growth in Australia for 2011 would be closer to 4.5% compared with the current forecast of 2%.
As Stuart Harker adds "the fact Australians can securely purchase a product from half way across the world, and have it delivered to their doorstep quickly and for a very competitive price, highlights the challenges that overseas online shopping presents to local retailers traditional and online alike."
PwC national digital leader John Riccio believes that the growth in online shopping demands that Australian retailers "embrace the fundamental shift in underlying business models caused by the digital revolution."
However, it may well be that even a major shift in business models will not be enough.National Retail Association (NRA) Executive Director Gary Black says Australian retailers have to compete on an "unlevel playing field" with tax and duty making local costs up to 23% higher in when compared to the same product offered by an overseas retailer.
The NRA is calling for consumers to pay a duty for goods bought overseas at delivery, a suggestion that it submitted to the Productivity Commission's recently released study into the Australian retail industry.
Black fears that without a level playing field, sales lost to overseas retailers could affect 80,000 jobs in the retail sector and cause some retailers to lose 20% of their market.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.
www.ausleisure.com

New Theme Park for ….?

2011-08-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

In the early years of publishing Australasian Leisure Management magazine, every six months or so we would learn about and then publish a news story with a headline that can best be recalled as ‘New theme park for Queensland’.
After a few years, the reality of the attractions market in south-east Queensland led us to view such news with some scepticism as these proposed theme parks never materialised, usually as a result of a lack of funds, land or adequate business planning.
In this climate, operators such as Village Roadshow Theme Parks and Dreamworld (now owned by Ardent Leisure) should be applauded for the thoughtful and adaptive way they have developed and marketed Seaworld, Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild Waterworld, Dreamworld and its adjunct Whitewater World.
Even though both groups have recorded significant increases in profits for the last financial year, operating theme parks in Australia is a precarious activity suited only to south-east Queensland – as witnessed by the closure at Sydney attractions Fox Studios, Sega World and Wonderland Sydney early in the last decade.
Catering for a small (by global standards) local market, both groups have been imaginative in how they have approached their visitor market, relying, in most years, on a three way visitor split between the local south-east Queensland market, the rest of Australia and visitors from overseas.
Within these segments, they have also been flexible, shifting overseas marketing efforts between regions and countries as markets and/or economic conditions changed.
For another development to enter this market, has, as we have seen, not been possible.
With the growth of Asian leisure markets and the reach of this publication (and particularly the online industry http://www.ausleisure.com/ news service, which is updated daily), we now regularly learn about new theme park plans across Asia.
The immediacy of online news means it is tempting to publish stories about ‘New theme park for …’ cities in China, India or any other growing Asian economy. However, mindful that not all of these developments will break ground we resist publishing such news until the developments are a reality.
Yet the growth of the leisure market in Asia means a remarkable and bewildering array of new attractions are being built in Asia.
As a result, where Asians used to travel to the Gold Coast to visit Australia’s theme parks and attractions, with such attractions in their own countries, they are unlikely to do so again. Combined with the strength of the Australian dollar and the decline in domestic tourism, the attractions of the Gold Coast and indeed all of Australia, are going to have to be very imaginative in reaching new markets.
And with Asian attractions such as Singapore’s Resort World Sentosa (sited in a city that was a traditional stopover for Australians and New Zealanders travelling to Asia and beyond) attracting Australasian visitors you wonder whether Australia will ever again witness the development of another new theme park.
That this may be a reality could explain why it has been a long time since we have received any information on any new planned theme park in Queensland.
Nigel Benton is Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management.
http://www.ausleisure.com/

Little to Celebrate from the formation of new UK Sport Management Institute

2011-04-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

The end of this week marked a significant milestone in sport and leisure management in the United Kingdom with the formation of the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (IMSPA). The body has resulted from a merger of the former Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure (ISPAL) [a successor to the former Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM) and the Institute for Sport Development (ISD)] and the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM). While the creation of a new professional organisation on the other side of the world may not appear to have much relevance to Australia or New Zealand, it is worth pointing out that professional associations and institutes, while being a vestige of the old British Empire, are alive and well in our part of the world. In addition, many of Australia or New Zealand's professional bodies in the leisure industry have often looked to the UK for guidance and, in some cases, leadership. Last week, outgoing IPSAL Chief Executive Marcus Kingwell wrote "there has been a long build up to this event but given the strong widespread support from members and stakeholders, I have no doubt that this is the right move for ISPAL and for the wider sport and physical activity sector." While the formation of IMPSA is being seen by many as a grand coming together, scratching the surface of the merger reveals a less happy picture. Ten years ago, ILAM had a membership of over 6,000 industry professionals backed by a range of resources including an industry leading, and pre-internet, information centre. It also owned ‘The Grotto’/ILAM House, a substantial country house on the banks of the River Thames near Pangbourne, which it had inherited from an earlier parks and landscape management college. However, as of its formation, IMSPA will have a membership of just 2,000 and will be located in leased office space within Loughborough University's SportPark. In terms of membership decline, it would appear that as ISPAL moved towards the formation of IMSPA and sought to be more inclusive of sport management, so those members involved in the management of attractions, culture, events, parks, venues and tourism have felt disenfranchised and left. In addition, none of the former ILAM/ISPAL staff will be moving to the new body so there will be a large hole in the collective institutional knowledge of the new organisation. According to a leading UK leisure industry commentator “with regard to the aftermath of ILAM and the ISRM, it has gone about as badly as one might have feared. “The end result of years of work and arguably millions of pounds of expenditure (if one takes into account the sale of ILAM House and the fact that ILAM's closing account will show a few hundred grand in the bank) seems to be a re-titled ISRM with a new set of trustees and a slightly revised set of objectives. “While engaged on this process both organisations shed most of their members and, judging by the conversations I've had with people across the sector, almost all the goodwill of anyone who might have considered themselves a potential member of a new organisation. “Just as the current (UK) Government's decision to send the country into economic and financial meltdown signals the end of public services, the sport, leisure and culture sector in the UK has no coherent professional voice to state its case."
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.
www.ausleisure.com

And the winner is … Qatar

2011-03-31T23:02:00.001-07:00

You would have to have been living on another planet to not know that world football governing body FIFA awarded hosting of its 2022 World Cup to the Arabian Gulf nation of Qatar – the Qatari bid beating other, apparently stronger, bids from Australia, Japan, Korea and the USA. The wisdom of awarding the event to a nation with a population of less than two million with limited sporting heritage has been widely debated, as has the timing of the event: will it be held in January, during the northern hemisphere winter; or should it be held, as planned, in July, when the Qataris have pledged to deliver climate controlled stadia to counter the country’s extreme summer temperatures? Yet, Qatar’s hosting of the 2011 Asian Cup in January resulted from the event having been moved from its originally scheduled dates in July. The reason was that the Asian Football Confederation felt that playing the competition in Qatar in July would be too hot! Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com.au

While Australia makes strange some odd football decisions

2011-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, Australia, which will be hosting the 2015 Asian Cup, plans to stage the event in January – Australia’s hottest and, as we have just seen, most climatically challenging month! In the aftermath of the failure of Australia’s FIFA World Cup 2022 bid, many media commentators suggested that Australia’s bid failed because it was "too clean". Yet the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that the Football Federation Australia could not account for $11 million of the $45.6 million provided by the Federal Government to help mount the bid. In addition, the FFA’s use of ‘lobbyists’ Peter Hargitay and Fedor Radmann in the bid has been questioned. Described by investigative journalist Andrew Jennings (the veteran reporter behind the BBC documentary ‘FIFA’s Dirty Secrets’) as “dirty people”, Hargitay and Radmann received in excess of $3.5 million for their consultancy services, a fee that would have risen by a further $6.5 million payment if the bid had been successful. Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com.au

A New Waterpark for Sydney

2010-11-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

The development of a waterpark in western Sydney has been one of the perennial business challenges in the leisure industry over the last decade or so. Many organisations and consultants have investigated the potential of a western Sydney waterpark only to see their plans thwarted by the high cost of land and the limitations of returns from a probable five-month operating season.
The economics behind the recent announcement that Village Roadshow are to develop a waterpark at Sydney's Eastern Creek waterpark appears to have been made possible by Village having secured a long-term lease on NSW Government owned land that will be rezoned for recreation.
The end result, Wet'n'Wild Sydney will be an impressive attraction.
However, it is worth contrasting the backing that the NSW Government have given to Village Roadshow with the experience of Jamberoo Action Park owner Jim Eddy as he attempts to expand the water and amusement park that currently services Sydney and the Illawarra region. Eddy’s multi-million dollar development plans are currently on hold as a result of Kiama Municipal Council’s concerns over traffic issues, water management and re-zoning of rural land for a new car park.
Jim Eddy had hoped to start work on the $15 million first stage of Jamberoo’s expansion earlier this year but now sees that his plans have now been set back at least two years.
At the present time, the Council and Eddy are working together on a 'gateway process' application for the NSW Planning Minister that could see the land rezoned through amendments to Kiama's local environmental plan.
Reflecting on the process, Eddy told local media “having spent $650,000 (on legal costs) in three years (this) is starting to wear me out.
"It doesn't matter whether it's Kiama ... or wherever you are, you go through this nonsense. The planning process is a lot more complicated than it has to be. Not just for me, but for everybody."
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com.au

Asian Events Rising

2010-09-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

In the second half of 2010, the world’s biggest sporting events are heading to Asia. The inaugural Youth Olympic Games, held in Singapore in August, has already been a remarkable success with nations now queuing up to host future versions of the event.
The other major events of this half year, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou are being hosted in the booming economies of India and China. Yet the image of the two events are very different.
Beset by construction delays and allegations of corruption, India has struggled to get itself ready for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
By contrast, with its experience from the 2008 Olympic Games, 67 of the 70 practice and competitive venues for the Guangzhou Asian Games were handed over to organisers in August - even though the event doesn't take place until November. In addition, the 2010 Asian Games having raised $500 million in sponsorship is of major significance to sponsors, rights holders and industry support services globally.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com.au

Coroner Recommends Anti Drowning System That Can’t Be Bought

2010-08-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

The extensive recommendations by the Queensland Coroner at the recent Rockhampton Rock Pool Water Park Drowning Inquest included a recommendation that the Workplace Health and Safety authorities should implement an anti-drowning safety alert system at public pools.
Yet Australasian Leisure Management has discovered that the Poseidon anti-drowning technology, as installed in more than 180 public pools around the world, no longer has an Australian distributor.
Queensland Coroner Annette Hennessy made the recommendation at the coronial inquest into the drowning of a nine-year-old boy at Rockhampton’s The Rock Pool Water Park in January 2007.
Blaming inadequate supervision by adults, the lifeguard operating the rocket, the pool operator and the boy’s lack of swimming ability as contributing to the boy’s death, Coroner Hennessy said she would like to see a public campaign reminding parents and guardians of the importance of watching their children; and that Workplace Health and Safety should implement a safety alert system to protect and alert the public and pool operators to such an incident.
Poseidon, the world’s leading anti-drowning system, was installed at Blacktown Leisure Centre Stanhope in NSW in 2007 by local distributor Third Watch. The system was retrofitted to BLCS’ existing 25 metre pool and at the time was seen by many as important pool safety innovation.
Yet beyond the BLCS installation, Third Watch received no further orders for the system and their distributorship for Australia and New Zealand ceased at the end of last year.
At the present time, France-based Poseidon can deal with inquiries, quotes and provide information on the system.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com/
The Poseidon system at Blacktown Leisure Centre Stanhope was featured in the November/December 2007 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.
Poseidon can be contacted on +33 683 877 314, E: tboeglin@poseidon-tech.com
www.poseidon-tech.com

The Leisure Election!

2010-08-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Prior to the last Australian Federal Election, then Prime Minister John Howard outlined how a potential budget surplus could be used to fund local infrastructure such as entertainment venues, sports stadia, aquatic centres and other community facilities.
In the somewhat different economic climate of the last three years, the Labor Government under the Prime Ministership of first Kevin Rudd and then Julia Gillard, have committed $800 million of funding for the type of infrastructure that John Howard suggested. This funding has been forthcoming under the Federal Government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Programs while Government has also contributed additional funds to flagship entertainment and sporting facilities.
With the current Federal Election upon us, and political commentators lamenting the paucity of debate and policy differentials between the main political groups, it appears that pledges to fund leisure infrastructure projects have become a key area in which politicians are seeking to gain votes.
Ignoring the fiscal responsibility and belt tightening policies of other developed nations, Australia’s politicians have instead sought to attract votes through funding pledges for stadiums, sportsgrounds, surf education centres, waterparks and the like.
Into this policy vacuum, it has been encouraging to see several of the leisure industry’s peak and professional bodies take a lead in lobbying the major political parties. The Australian Leisure Facilities Association; the Australian Womensport and Recreation Association; performing arts peak bodies the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association, the Australian Major Performing Arts Group, and Live Performance Australia; a group of organisations committed to active transport along with fitness and weight loss industry leaders, have each made key policy and funding recommendations for Australia’s next Government to address.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. http://www.ausleisure.com/

Respecting Safety, Acknowledging Culture

2010-07-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

In a tragic recent incident, a young Muslim mother was killed after her Hijab (a headscarf that Muslim women use to cover their head and neck) became entangled in the axle of a go-kart she was driving at Port Stephens Go-Karts on the NSW Central Coast.
The woman had apparently been advised not to wear her headscarf in the go-kart but is understood to have chosen to ignore that advice.
Meanwhile, as part of a confidential settlement at Western Australia’s Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), Adventure World Perth has been ordered to compensate and apologise to a group of Muslim women after they were refused permission to go on water rides at the Park because of their clothing.
Park staff had apparently suggested that the womens’ three-quarter length pants and long shirts “would require chlorine levels to be raised to counter the unhygienic effect” and that their clothing could cause “injury if it got caught in the joints of the water slides”.
While the hygiene argument was debatable, in the light of the Port Stephens Go-Kart incident, concerns about the potential of clothing to cause injury or, even death, would appear to be valid and, as a result, the EOC’s negotiated settlement would appear particularly harsh on Adventure World.
History, and major geo-political events of the last decade, have created a gulf of misunderstanding between secular ‘first world’ countries and their Muslim populations, as well as between Muslim and non-Muslim nations. And such misunderstanding is unlikely to be countered if commonsense and safety is compromised.
In the light of this, clear clothing policies that respect religious and cultural differences would seem to be a must among leisure operators.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.
http://www.ausleisure.com

Taking Qatari Sport Seriously - 11th November 2009

2010-07-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

With football focused on the Arabian Gulf this weekend, Australia should take Qatar's rival FIFA World Cup bid seriously.

Over the next few days, the fortunes of both Australia and New Zealand's national football teams will be focused on the Arabian Gulf.
While New Zealand take on Bahrain in the second leg of their FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off, where a win will see the All Whites qualify for the World Cup finals for only the second time, Australia will be in Oman in the penultimate game of their Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup qualifying campaign.
With football in our region inexorably linked with Asia following Australia having joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, this week's focus on the Arabian Gulf is portent of the future of the game.
For this weekend will also see an unlikely sporting sight when English football fans gather to support their team when they play against World Cup holders Brazil. The sight will be unlikely because the stadium at which the game will be played will not be London's Wembley or Rio De Janeiro's Maracana but the Khalifa International Stadium in the Qatari capital of Doha.
The game is a 'home' fixture for Brazil, who are able to generate more revenue by playing their non-competitive matches at various locations around the world than they would in South America, and follows their having been the first visitors to the new Wembley in 2007. It marks a first visit to the Gulf state for England, and will expose the Islamic nation to a significant influx of English football fans.
The presence of England fans in a country that while modernising and tolerant by the standards of the region, is still deeply conservative by western standards, will present an interesting contrast of social and sporting cultures. This will be particularly apparent when the Qatari police, known for having a lack of patience for yobbish behavior, meet England fans with their reputation for drinking and fighting.
The way in which the Qatari authorities deal with potentially belligerent English fans will be watched around the world.
For this tiny but very rich country has a lot riding on this match with its eyes on bigger events, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where it is a bidding rival to Australia.
Since hosting the 2006 Asian Games, Qatar has focused on successfully winning, executing and hosting numerous major sporting events. It has just hosted the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships and this month is also hosting the FIVB Club World Volleyball Championship. In the coming years it will stage the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships and, in 2011, both the 12th Pan-Arab Games and the Asian Cup.
Even though its bid was assessed equal third on technical merit with Chicago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not short-list Doha as candidate city for the 2016 Olympic Games, the IOC discounting the Doha bid due to the proposed dates of the competition being outside their recommendations.
Disappointed at this rebuff, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son of the Emir of Qatar, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Bid Committee has since advised that "Qatar is still determined to host the Games." And while assessing why Doha's 2016 Games bid failed the nation is concentrating on the potentially bigger prize of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Qatar, along with Australia, is among 12 nations aiming to host the 21st and 22nd editions of the world's largest sporting event. While Australia is bidding for both dates, Qatar is focussing solely on the 2022 event.
At first glance, it might be easy to discount the Qataris bid against our own, as well as those of the USA and major European football nations such as England, Russia, as well as the joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium, with their football heritage, large populations and income generating potential.
In addition, with a population of just over 1.3 million people, around two-thirds of whom are expatriates, Qatar would be the smallest nation to host a World Cup.
Yet, in an era of massive infrastructure developments in Arabian Gulf nations, Qatar has invested US$2.8 billion in sporting infrastructure over recent years, as part of a strategy to attract sporting events of an ever higher calibre. It is this thinking which is driving investment in sport throughout the Arabian Gulf and which has also seen wealthy individuals invest in sporting properties around the world including the ownership of English Premier League teams such as Manchester City.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani is also promoting his bid as an Arab unity bid, positioning the Qatari bid as an opportunity to bridge sporting, cultural and political divisions between the Arab and western worlds
As for Qatar's extreme summer heat, where average daytime temperatures can exceed 40°C, Qatar will not be seeking alternative dates as with its 2016 Olympics bid and will stick with FIFA's June/July schedule. To counter the heat, Qatari officials are experimenting with innovative cooling technologies for both players and spectators.
As Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani explains "a stadium with controlled temperature is the answer to the problem (and) we have already set in motion this process."
Qatar 2022 Bid Chief Executive Hassan Abdulla Al Thawadi recently told ESPN Soccernet that "we are researching various cooling methods which are environmentally friendly and very effective in cooling.
"We'll soon be unveiling a number of visionary, state-of-the-art ideas for iconic stadia and infrastructure and we're very excited by the challenge of ensuring that passion for football is the only thing that will make spectators hot."
At the heart of Qatar's sporting infrastructure is the Aspire Zone, with its 50,000-capacity Khalifa International Stadium and the Aspire Dome, the world's largest indoor sports facility.
Located just eight kilometres from Doha's Central Business District, the Aspire Zone offers both local and international visitors access to world-class sports facilities and activities, high-end retail shopping and luxurious green parks.
The Aspire Zone was featured in the November/December 2009 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. 11th November 2009
http://www.ausleisure.com/

Reaching Communities, New Technology and Waves! - 17th July 2009

2010-07-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

In our years of publication, no issue of Australasian Leisure Management has ever been 'themed' on a particular topic.
The main reason for this has been the diversity of activity of the leisure industry across its various sectors (which we define as aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues) and the states, territories and regions of Australia, New Zealand and, increasingly, Asia.
Yet, in preparing the July/August 2009 issue, it's remarkable how several themes have repeatedly presented themselves and seem to be indicative of the times in which we live. These themes include being competitive in difficult economic times, reaching communities, making the most of new technologies and waves.
The inclusion of 'waves', specifically the generation of artificial waves, is the odd one out on this list, but the ongoing developments in different types of artificial wave technology, and the opening of Australia's largest wave pool in Darwin, warrants the attention we have given to developments in wave technology in this coming issue.
Throughout much of the rest of the magazine, a range of different articles reflect on the how the industry is trying to stay abreast of new technology and staying relevant to the younger technology and product 'savvy' demographic.
Among those who break populations into demographic cohorts, those born in the 1990s fit at the end of end of 'Generation Y' - generally seen as those born from the early 1980s to the early 1990s - and 'Generation Z', are those born since the mid 1990s.
With 'Generation Z' (I sometimes wonder whether our reaching the end of the alphabet for demographic groups means that we are reaching the end of history!), their use of a bewildering array of technologies to stay connected with their friends and their activities is demanding that the leisure industry stays in touch with this technology and communicates meaningfully through this new media.
One of the secrets of communication in new media is quality content regularly updated (something we follow at this website) that is relevant or interesting.
Here much of the leisure industry needs to avoid the pitfalls of 'spruiking', spin and/or being boring.
In recent weeks I've come across the most mundane of Tweets and Facebook entries such as people advising that they are "at the airport waiting for a plane". Surely we can do better than that!
Equally, visual media all too often relies on comedy 'ocker' types (including business owners or retired sportsmen) shouting at the camera or over enthusiastic Generation Xers.
All types of media and communication demand quality content delivered with professionalism and passion. And passion is another recurring theme of our July/August 2009 issue.
People in this industry have a lot to be passionate about after all, we provide services and facilities that entertain, excite and improve.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. 17th July 2009.
http://www.ausleisure.com

A Kick of Soccer? - 27th March 2009

2010-07-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

This week I’ve just read a press release from the Melbourne Grand Prix organisers about Fernando Alonso having a "kick of soccer" with Danny Allsopp prior to the Melbourne Grand Prix.
"A kick of soccer", what on earth is that? - it just isn't the right language, people don't go for "a biff of league" or a "leap of AFL" - at least not as far as I know. I doubt anyone who knows the round ball game has ever thought "hey, I'm off for a kick of soccer"?
It got me thinking for all the efforts of Football Federation Australia (FFA) and others in repositioning the round ball game in recent years, have they really got through to mainstream Australia to help them understand what 'The World Game' is about?
On terrestrial TV, the game is still restricted to SBS. FoxSports have the A-League and international games but who, other than Poms like me, watch that? - and I really only have Fox Sports for the English Premier League.
For mainstream Australia, channels 7, 9 and 10 focus on white Australia's traditional sports: AFL, tennis, cricket, league and a bit of rugby union. The only time football gets close to a look in is if the Socceroos are doing well or, a Channel 10 specialty this one, there's been a punch up in a Brazilian regional game that they can show to emphasise what a violent unpredictable lot the soccer family is.
And the newspapers are the just them same.
This week's announcement of an annual Australia v Turkey by FFA is a brave attempt to out 'Aussie' the other football codes. While AFL and league can have big ANZAC Day fixtures, football can go one further by actually taking on the old enemy.
Indeed, given the performances of many of the FFA's national teams in recent years, particularly the Graham Arnold coached Olyroos at the Beijing Olympics, this fixture may be more than a game, it could be a complete historical re enactment.
Australia's recent tactics have often resembled the dramas of the Gallipoli campaign; fit young men with hope in their hearts and stars in their eyes on a worldly adventure, but let down by inadequate training, poor leadership, outdated tactics and a technically deficient strike force. It often seems that our courageous and upright young Aussies have merely been instructed to run straight at the enemy defences with no prospect of success, all the time waiting for something (1915 - grenades and shells, 2009 - a ball) to be lobbed in from the back.
As little has changed in almost 100 years, it may take almost as long to change Australia's understanding of the game.
Come ANZAC Day, all Australia will be able to sit back and watch the games, well they can if they have FoxSports. Any flare ups will be on 10's Sports Tonight, which given the first fixtures are between a bunch of competitive and testosterone fuelled 16 year olds might well be a possibility!
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. 27th March 2009
http://www.ausleisure.com

Getting Started With iSmart - September 2008

2010-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Having been asked by our website partners iSmart for some comments on our relationship, I thought I would record how we went about developing this site.
Like many small businesses, at Australasian Leisure Management we had several 'false dawns' with our website.
We had spent money for so-called experts to set sites up for us, only to find that the expertise we had paid for was somewhat limited, or that our chosen developers couldn't deliver on what they had promised. As a result, we had relied on an MS Frontpage designed site that we managed ourselves.
Aware that we had to do more, in the second half of 2007 we set about being serious about our internet presence.
Taking testimonials from a number of leisure businesses, we came across iSmart and the websites that iSmart had developed for major sport and entertainment venues.
So, we made contact with iSmart, who encouraged us to think clearly about what we wanted from our site and its related functions.
This was vital as, from what we now know, you have to be clear about you want from a site for your website developers to be clear in what they will do for you. Such clarity also reduces the potential for wasting time and money.
Fast forwarding a few months, since we relaunched our website at the end of May 2008, in each of the three months since its launch (June, July and August) the website has generated in excess of 150,000 hits and 100,000 page views. (As of March 2009, this has grown to 242,226 page views and 516,769 hits!).
This remarkable traffic (way in excess of what we expected) has been attracted to the websites considerable content (with more to be added), our regularly updated industry news pages and areas such as our Buyers Guide and Opportunities pages (from which we are already deriving income).
Looking back on how we got to this, we can highlight that:
The various modules that iSmart offer means you can 'pick and mix' the iSmart services that you purchase;
iSmart have shown incredible flexibility in helping us develop our site. If we have a particular issue with the functionality of any aspect of iSmart's modules, iSmart have a 'fussfree' approach to sorting the problem;
Unlike many programs which begin with a one-off program of intensive training, much of which is then forgotten, iSmart's regular (monthly/bimonthly) training means that it is possible to learn about the capabilities of iSmart's programs in 'bite-sized' chunks. This learning can then be applied to continually develop and enhance your site.
While we continue to learn about the potential of our site (for which we still haven't used the full capabilities that iSmart's modules offer), I would suggest the following too anyone at the start of this process:
• Buy/register the best (the most appropriate to your business and business name) domain name(s) that you can;
• Be clear about what you want your website to do;
• Be sure to devote appropriate resources to develop your website. Nobody, not even iSmart, knows your business and your needs like you do;
• Be sure to devote appropriate resources to keeping your website up to date and relevant. (There is nothing worse than going to a website that was last updated six months ago!) Here it is important to be sure that you have a 'culture of communication' in your business, that extends to communicating what you are doing via your website.
The staggering level of traffic that we now have visiting our website is helping our business develop in a way that we could not have imagined 12 months ago, and I hope we are able to make the most of this opportunity.
I urge anyone developing a site to be prepared for what may emerge for you from working with iSmart.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. September 2008.
http://www.ausleisure.com
http://www.ismartsoftware.com/ismart/

Brand Beckham Comes to Town - 28th November 2007

2010-07-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

There can be nothing that illustrates the power of celebrity more than the 80,000 who attended the Sydney FC v LA Galaxy match at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. The attraction was, of course, David Beckham, who made the difference in swelling Sydney FC's average crowd of 15,000 to a record for a non-international fixture in Australia.
Aware he was the centre of attention, a single pre-match smile from 'brand Becks' magnified on the Telstra Stadium's rather erratic big screens, generated rapturous screams from the crowd screams that confirmed the non-football make up of the crowd.
For the crowd were certainly a mixed bag consisting of more regular fans in their replica shirts (usually showing allegiance to English Premier League clubs), groups of twenty something girls (the age who would have been Spice Girls fans at the height of Becks and Poshmania), football playing youngsters with obliging if rather confused parents and the curios the latter confirming that Sydneysiders love a big event.
Collectively, while their understanding of the game was perhaps limited (I heard one father call a throw in a 'line out'), the crowd loved the goals, of which there were lots. They loved Beckham more though, the stadium lighting up with camera flashes when he moved to the edge of the playing field to take one of many corner kicks. (My son suggested that one thing you wouldn't hear in the LA Galaxy team was a Beckham teammate saying "I'll take this one" at set pieces).
Playing in a rather withdrawn role, Beckham sprayed Glenn Hoddle-like long passes around the field, interspersing this with simple short passing and even simpler dummies (with quality players it's often not about what they do, but what they don't do). However, it was at set pieces where Beckham excelled, the referee, perhaps mindful of Beckham's presence, giving LA Galaxy some rather soft awards near the edge of Sydney FC's penalty area positions from where Beckham has cemented his playing reputation.
So, as if it was scripted, as the first half closed, Beckham duly obliged by scoring a trademark free kick. And a very good free kick it was too, reminiscent of his match-saving free kick that closed England's qualifying campaign, against Greece, for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
By the time of Beckham's goal, comedic defending saw LA Galaxy trail by three goals, and the goal fest continued through the second half. The aggression of several fringe players within the Sydney FC squad also rose as the game progressed, with Beckham on the receiving end of some hefty challenges that would have resulted in less committed players leaving the field.
Proving he was made of stern stuff, Beckham earned himself a yellow card for some 'afters' on one of the aggressors, before some farcical refereeing decisions reduced the visitors to nine players.
But before then, despite all his skill, achievements, adulation and wealth, I was feeling rather sorry for Beckham. With his fame (he surely eclipses Pele as the world's most famous footballer) masking his significant talents, and just one week from having played what will probably be his last international game, I wondered what the future holds for Beckham.
Recruited, at significant cost, to use his fame as a figurehead for 'soccer' in the USA, exhibition games such as this are for his new employers to recover their investment. Yet in such games, and in US Major League Soccer, a league whose talent pool is surely beneath that of a player who just earlier this year was part of a Spanish La Liga Championship winning team, what is Beckham expected to do?
With his fame, famous smile, and well managed and tactful statements he remains, like Pele, a wonderful ambassador for the game. Yet on the field, he resembles a once great boxer brought on to enliven a side show, going through his trade mark routines and hoping no one fells him with a cheap shot.
All players as they got older, whether great or not, attest to wanting to play for as long as possible. But surely, at a mere 32 years of age, Beckham is capable of displaying his undoubted footballing talents as competitive rather than a celebrity footballer.
Beyond international friendlies, exhibition games such as Sydney FC v LA Galaxy are something of a rarity in international football. The greatest similarity between Beckham and LA Galaxy's current tour coming in the 1960s when Brazil's Santos sought to capitalise on the presence of Pele in their team by playing regular tour games in Europe. While Pele rather spuriously counts the goals he scored in these games in his 1,000 plus career goal tally, these games gave non Brazilian fans the chance to see the 'world's best' player in action while also swelling Santos' coffers.
(To compliment David Beckham's trip to Sydney, one of Australia's main current affairs programs saw fit to develop the celebrity angle with a story on a Victoria Beckham impersonator parading around the city.)
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. 28th November 2007
http://www.ausleisure.com

Better to Travel than Arrive? - October 2007

2010-07-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

English sports fans experiences are very different to those of Australia fans - Rugby World Cup

If England get beaten by France in the second semi final of the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, the sounds of Australians cheering may be louder than that of English wailing.
For having been beaten by the 'mother country' in Marseille in the quarter finals, one thing many Australians will be looking forward to celebrating this weekend is an England loss.
But for Australians to celebrate an English loss is essentially missing the point, for the sporting experiences and expectations of each country are very different.
In Australia we excel at sport, sport in many ways defining much of our national character. Here I feel it's always worth remembering that Australian national sporting teams pre-dated the Australian Commonwealth.
Our success in sport is completely out of proportion to the size of our population, as evidenced by our being world champions in rugby, rugby league, cricket, netball as well as a host of minor sports, while individual Australian sportspeople excel in sports such as tennis, golf, soccer, swimming, motorcycle racing and others.
As a result, we expect and almost demand sporting triumph and are quick to turn on perceived sporting failures on the odd occasions when they do arise.
In recent weeks, our media have been particularly harsh on Eddie Jones and George Gregan, notwithstanding that they have, respectively, coached and captained a team that has won six matches in a row and were just two games away from an unprecedented third Rugby World Cup triumph.
All this in our third or fourth most popular football code, Australia's success ranking against one Rugby World Cup win each for South Africa and New Zealand - countries where rugby is a religion.
And for Australian sports stars who 'fail', they, like other sporting 'failures' back to Kim Hughes and beyond, will be dealt with harshly.
Contrast this with the English sporting experience. Living in England for the first 35 of my forty plus years, I sometimes kid myself that I can recall England's World Cup (soccer) triumph of 1966. In reality I was then a short trousered fiend playing with my cars and trucks and not remotely interested in what so animated my family.
Through adolescence and right through to today I have supported a soccer team that never wins anything - so this experience won't ring true with fans of Liverpool as they 'conquered' European soccer in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Later, as I married an Australian girl, so the English (ok British) rugby league team won the first test of the 1990 Kangaroo tour, but Australia then won the next two.
Through this barren period, there was at least the Botham Ashes series of 1981 and a brief period of cricketing success under Mike Gatting.
Along the way England reached World Cup semi finals and quarter finals, being beaten by Maradona's feet (and hand) and 'ruthlessly efficient' Germans; lost the 1991 Rugby World Cup final to Campo, Farr-Jones and co; have endured cricketing humiliations and play the likes of Lesotho and Bhutan in qualifying rounds for the Davis Cup.
But through all of this, through each tour, qualifier and competition there has been hope. Perhaps, misguided and often with an inner feeling that it will all end in disappointment, but this sporting hope has prevailed.
It is this hope that sustains the 'Barmy Army' through cricket tours that they know will end in tears, and it is this hope that sustains a certain joy in supporting English sporting teams.
Put simply, their joy is in their journey, and whatever happens along the way.
Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management. 10th October 2007
http://www.ausleisure.com