Las Balsas raft our new icon?
Following on from our Ballina Postcard last week members from Ballina Tourism and Hospitality have had discussions with The Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum and several Ballina Shire Councillors and believe that this, The Las Balsas Raft might be an appropriate and unique icon to represent Ballina Coast and Hinterland.
President of the Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum, Clem MacMahon, says the Las Balsas raft on display in the museum could be promoted as an icon of Ballina because of its national significance.
Of course, nothing beats going to the museum and seeing the raft which is the centrepiece of this fantastic museum. The DVD is available for purchase there as a great reminder and would make a great Christmas Gift.
“We are losing the Big Prawn as a landmark, but the raft could well replace it and attract interest,” Clem said.
“I consider it to be of national significance.
“There are only three (rafts of this type) in the world: one is the Kon Tiki raft at Oslo, a La Balsa raft (from the single-raft 1966 expedition from South America to Australia) at Barcelona and this one in Ballina.
“Locals, Australians and overseas visitors express amazement when they see it.”
You can read more of this story in this week's Ballina Advocate
The Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum are members of Ballina Tourism and Hospitality.
Of course this is very early in the piece and Ballina Tourism and Hospitality will be working with Ballina Shire Council and the industry over the coming months towards conducting a brand audit and from that we will undertake a brand development exercise.
Two more Tourism Graduates head to LA
Two Diploma of Tourism students from Wollongbar TAFE have secured an international internship with Hallmark Aviation Services. Caitlin Smith and Sunilla Wicks will be based at Los Angeles Airport working for an Australian-based Airline.
Last year, four Diploma of Tourism graduates were selected for the internship program and that recruitment was so successful that Hallmark Aviation returned to Wollongbar TAFE this year to offer more graduates internships. Hallmark Aviation only recruit approximately 8 interns each year world wide.
Allyson Taylor, Head Tourism Teacher at Wollongbar TAFE Campus says the company came back to us as they were so pleased with the quality of our students. Hallmark was impressed both with the students themselves and the course content which they thought prepared them well for the operational and customer service role expected of them at Los Angeles Airport.
Hallmark Aviation, is a customer service and flight Operations Management company and is the premier Passenger Handling company for 5 international airports in the United States, including: Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, and is engaged by over 23 international airlines.
“I am looking forward to this new adventure. I always wanted to work for a Airline but never expected to be going overseas” said Sunilla Wicks.
Caitlin Smith said “I have achieved my goal, the process has been challenging but worth it.” Both students say their families are very proud of them for completing their diploma and securing a great job.
Also, Sunilla and Caitlin were successful in the third round of the Galileo ‘Agent of the Future’ competition. Sunilla was 2nd with Caitlin coming 3rd . The competition is open to all colleges throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Travelport Agent of the Future program provides an incentive to travel students to reach greater standards of excellence. Those nominated demonstrate outstanding qualities that are required for the development of travel industry and supports future qualified, passionate and outstanding professionals.
Local artist Anna Niblic Heggie was recently commissioned to create a live artwork 'Capturing the Night Fantastic' at one of the Ballina Hinterland Restaurants. She was asked to create an artwork that captured the ambience and paint fast enough to complete the artwork during the evening. Anna is pictured with musician Danny Ross in front of her work in progress from the night.
Anna used her experience from her TV series Arts Masterclass (under hot lights, cameras and only half an hour per episode) to feel confident in handling different artistic situations and she said it was very rewarding.
Anna is now available for bookings as a resident artist for that SPECIAL OCCASION!!
She also has a series of upcoming workshops based from her Studio in Lennox Head.
You can read more on her website www.annaheggie.com
Benefit from Membership
Our 'EchoTV ad Campaign' has been running this week in the Lismore region. Website visitations have been going ballistic and hopefully we will be able to see the results with more bookings and visitors during the upcoming holiday season.
The call to action is to our new look main website www.ballinatourism.com.au
If you haven't seen it, have a look and drop us a line to help us with our work in developing Ballina Coast and Hinterland as a tourist destination.
We are planning new television echo advertising schedules, ventures, activities and promotions for the new year but we are a membership organisation and so need your help you with our strategies for promotion.
‘NEVER TO LATE TO JOIN’
Our Membership Prospectus and Invoice can be downloaded from our site here .
Ballina Tourism and Hospitality – Committee 2009/10
- Jason Mumford - The Point Ballina President
- Paul Ferguson – Ballina Colonial Motel Deputy President & Public Officer
- Dave Heggie – Digital and Virtual Environments Secretary & Press Officer
- Allyson Taylor - Wollongbar TAFE Treasurer
- Gary Crane – Northern Rivers Trike and Bike Tours
- Rik Dillon – Amaze 'n' Place
- Peter Mehan – Wollongbar TAFE
Cheers
Dave Heggie
Secretary Ballina Tourism and Hospitality