BOA

Friday, 09 September 2011 06:21

BOA welcomed members, industry colleagues and friends to the 20th BOA AGM on Thursday 8th September held at the AGL Theatre, Museum of Sydney.

BOA’s Executive Committee reflected on a busy year for the Association, and thanked BOA members and the industry at large for their continued support during what was a challenging year for many businesses in the backpacking and youth tourism sector.

BOA’s President Katrina Greeves paid special thanks to BOA sponsors Insurance Advisernet Australia for their continued support and Destination NSW for recognising the value of the backpacking and youth industry.

Robert Henke, BOA’s Honorary Secretary highlighted the importance of “social cohesion” in BOA’s ongoing success, thanking the BOA Events Sub Committee for arranging a calendar of well attended social and industry events and also thanked those who attended.

BOA increased its membership this year, which was a good result during a difficult period. Activities undertaken during the year, deserving a special mention include the the production of the BOA Shared Accoomodation flyer (available on the BOA website), to inform visitors on what to look out for when renting shared accommodation along with the development of regional sub committees in Byron Bay and the South Coast. Special thanks goes to the Port Stephens Sub Committee for their boundless energy and enthusiasm for youth tourism in the area.

BOA continues to be in a strong financial position, reported BOA Honorary Treasurer Chris Harrison and a concerted effort was made this year to spend some of the accumulated funds on activities for our members. Funds were spent on the always popular BOA Ball and attendance at the Sydney and Melbourne Adventure Travel and Backpackers Expo during the year.

To read reports from the Office Bearers and BOA’s activities over the past 12 months, please click here to download a copy of our Annual Report.

A new Committee was elected at the AGM for the 2011/12 membership year. To see who elected to the Committee this year, click here.

Special mention is given to outgoing BOA President Katrina Greeves,  who leaves the role after two years. Katrina has been vital to the ongoing success of BOA, especially from a lobbying perspective. BOA is pleased Katrina will remain on the BOA Committee as a General Committee member this year and as an interim President until the replacement is elected within the next month.

Thanks also goes to outgoing Committee members Rick Schindler and Marcus Lenarduzzi for their hardwork and dedication over the past few years.

We also welcome new faces to the Committee this year – Migration specialist Surinder Singh from Job Capital – and we welcome back to the Committee Paul Vella from Surf Camp Australia who will be taking a lead role in running the South Coast Sub Committee.

Special thanks goes to the Historic Houses Trust for allowing us to use their amazing venue.

Guest speaker: Josh Khoddami

After the close of the AGM, BOA was pleased to welcome a presentation by Josh Khodammi from The Web Showroom. Josh covered online marketing strategies for the hospitality industry including optimising Google Places, conversion optimisation and utilising Google Adwords for market testing. Thank you to Josh for his excellent presentation, if you would like a copy please click here.

BOA Talks

BOA welcomed Destination NSW Digital Marketing Manager, Diana Kahui as the keynote BOA Talks speaker this year. Diana presented on Destination NSW’s youth program for 2011-2012.

Diana reported on the “first burst” of the youth campaign that took place inmarket between May-June this year. Incorporating social media, digital marketing, industry channels and partnerships the campaign showed some positive results espcially online via Twitter and Facebook.

The next phase is an international youth campaign taking place over the next 15 months in key international markets including the USA/Canada, UK/Europe, Australia/New Zealand and China/Korea/India. Airline partners have been secured for these campaigns and BOA is pleased to report that there will be many opportunities for the industry to get involved.

To view Diana’s presentation please click here.

If you have any questions for Destination NSW on the youth campaign, please contact Diana – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Following Diana’s presentation, Katrina informed the audience that BOA has signed a new 12 month agreement with Destination NSW. All attendees were given a copy of the new Activity Plan that has been agreed and this will be distributed to all BOA members soon. BOA thanks Destination NSW for their continued support.

The BOA Youth Tourism Action Plan was officially launched to the industry by Katrina (in draft) and is now open to industry consultation. The plan, written to benefit the youth tourism and backpacking industry, is designed as an integrated plan and industry hymn sheet to grow the sector. BOA needs all members’ expertise and input – please read the plan and send BOA your comments, suggestions, amendments and omissions so we accurately represent your interests. A copy of the BOA Draft Youth Tourism Action Plan can be downloaded here.

Please send all comments to the BOA Secretariat by Monday 31st October – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Thank you to all who attended the BOA AGM and BOA Talks this year. We hope to see you back again next year.