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Speaker 1: Because there's plenty happening in Central Australia at the moment,

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Speaker 1: and we learned a little earlier this week that Webjet,

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Speaker 1: in partnership with Tourism and T's offering discounted flights to

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Speaker 1: Allie Springs across all airlines for travel any time in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. And joining me on the line to

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about this and what else

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Speaker 1: is going on in Central Australia. It is the CEO

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Speaker 1: of Tourism Central Australia, Daniel Rochford.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Katie, and good morning to you listeners.

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Speaker 1: Wonderful to have you on the show mate. First off,

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Speaker 1: this Webjet in partnership with Tourism and T offering the

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Speaker 1: discounted flights. How's it been going?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, really well, really well received from the industry. This

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Speaker 2: is really about pump priming twenty twenty five. As you know, Katie,

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Speaker 2: in the last five years, Central Australia's only had one

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Speaker 2: good year in terms of our tourism season. So twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty five we can't fail because you know, we have

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Speaker 2: a fragile industry that everyone's doing it tough, so we've

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Speaker 2: got to throw the kitchen sink at it and this

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Speaker 2: web jeb campaign is certainly one of a whole suite

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Speaker 2: of activities as part of the Alice Springs Stories from

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Speaker 2: the Heart campaign that Tourism Central Australian partnership with Tourism

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Speaker 2: and Tea are doing. So it is all about pub

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Speaker 2: priming twenty twenty five and making sure that our Tourism

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Speaker 2: SUCCE season is a success.

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Speaker 1: And how like, how are things going just a few

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Speaker 1: months in?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, suddenly cautiously optimistic the term I'm using. You know,

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Speaker 2: there is some signs that visitation is going to improve

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Speaker 2: this year, but you know, we really don't know until

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Speaker 2: we start to see those caravans starting to roll in,

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Speaker 2: and you know that's I guess a waiting game. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: suddenly you know, we're hopeful that this is this season's

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Speaker 2: going to be good, especially with all the support that

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Speaker 2: we've been getting in terms of marketing campaigns and activities.

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Speaker 2: So fingers Crow.

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Speaker 1: Daniel, you're in Canberra earlier this week meeting with representatives

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Speaker 1: and I'm assuming pollies those impositions of power. How did

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Speaker 1: it go and what message were you really trying to

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Speaker 1: get across?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we met with both the Tourism Minister and

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Speaker 2: also the Shadow Tourism Minister and just enter at Marion

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Speaker 2: springdaw Our local representatives, so that those meetings went really well, Katie,

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Speaker 2: there was really an opportunity to hear our specific issues

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Speaker 2: here in Central Australia and in particular our Springs. You know,

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Speaker 2: as locals when we travel into state you ask someone

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Speaker 2: asked where you're from, and then you say Ola Springs

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Speaker 2: and the first thing you get back is, oh, here

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Speaker 2: there's been a lot of trouble there, or here it's dangerous,

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Speaker 2: or here there's been issues. You know, we've got to

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Speaker 2: try and arrest that brand damage that's occurred and unfortunately

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Speaker 2: that's going to cost money and you know, to be

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Speaker 2: able to really put the hard work. The good news here,

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Speaker 2: you know, there's been a seismic shift in our crime

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Speaker 2: situation and that's great. There's still a crime, of course,

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Speaker 2: and you know we feel for the people that are

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Speaker 2: still impacted, but you know it has seizfically changed since

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Speaker 2: in comparison to say two years ago, where you know,

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Speaker 2: the challenges that we faced day in day out were

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Speaker 2: ever present. But you know, we're obviously have an opportunity

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Speaker 2: a window of opportunity to go on the offense. And

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Speaker 2: that's what this campaign has been all about. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we have't been asking our labor and liberal parties to

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Speaker 2: back tourism at this coming federal election. We need we

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Speaker 2: need the support of our federal governments to make sure

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Speaker 2: that we can rebound and recover.

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Speaker 1: Mate. You know, we had the federal budget handed down,

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Speaker 1: we went through all the details yesterday. There wasn't anything

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Speaker 1: in it for tourism across the Northern territory, but particularly

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Speaker 1: in Central Australia from what I could see. How are

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Speaker 1: you feeling, you know after that budget was handed down,

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Speaker 1: were you hoping that there would.

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Speaker 2: Be Look, I think just the discussions that we've been

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Speaker 2: having with both political parties is I think most of

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Speaker 2: the stuff that will be handled around tourism will probably

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Speaker 2: be handled as election announcements as opposed to be inside

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Speaker 2: the budget. But look, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 2: you know we've got that We've got a choice to

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Speaker 2: make here, Katie, Dora or door b do we just

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Speaker 2: not back the tourism industry and effectively we'll just have

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Speaker 2: the same challenges And you know, I'll get a phone

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Speaker 2: call every couple of weeks from another person saying that

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Speaker 2: they've had enough and I've got to close their doors.

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Speaker 2: Or alternatively, do we back the industry. And that's really

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Speaker 2: what we're asking our political parties to do, is back

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Speaker 2: the tourism industry, get behind it and let's try and

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Speaker 2: do things differently.

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Speaker 1: Daniel, do you feel as though they heard that message,

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Speaker 1: they heard what you were saying when you were in Canberra.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I think there is a general understanding that

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Speaker 2: we've had a difficult time, and you know, I think

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Speaker 2: that that message was clearly understood, and you know, I

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Speaker 2: think there's a lot of sympathy on both political parties

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Speaker 2: on that front. But you know, I guess now it

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Speaker 2: is over them to answer that call. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we are calling upon both political parties to back Alice

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Speaker 2: Springs and Central Australian tourism and to get behind us

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Speaker 2: in the next few weeks as we lead into the election,

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Speaker 2: So you know, the ball will be in their court

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Speaker 2: to answer that call.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, it certainly will be. In the meantime, Territorians are

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Speaker 1: going to be able to save up to two hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty dollars so on those one way flights. By

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Speaker 1: the look of it as part of you know, heading

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Speaker 1: to central Australia and trying to get things moving for

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Speaker 1: Alice Springs. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Look, I think you know, we can only but thank

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory government for their support for this. They

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Speaker 2: have really worked very hard and in partnership with the

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Speaker 2: local tourism industry here in Alice Springs to really make

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Speaker 2: sure that season is a success. And you know, we're

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Speaker 2: very confident and hopeful that that that program as well

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Speaker 2: as the marketing that's been put in the ambassadors, the

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Speaker 2: speaking is up. We've been blown away by the We

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Speaker 2: even had Karl Stefanovic the other day in a little

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Speaker 2: video saying to every Australian you're going to come to

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Speaker 2: the to the Alice and he said, I'm going to

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Speaker 2: bring my family up there, and you know, to have

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Speaker 2: those really lovely messages come through has been really heartful.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Good, I'm pleased to hear that. Hey you, before

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Speaker 1: I let you go this morning, can I ask what

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Speaker 1: do you think about this idea by the Tourism Minister

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Speaker 1: or certainly in its very early days of separating, sorry

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Speaker 1: merging together I should say, Tourism INTI and NTY major events.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we fully support that moved by a Minister Boothby.

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Speaker 2: I think that's been a long held call from Tourism

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Speaker 2: Central Australia that that is a good policy decision. Obviously

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Speaker 2: it's still a lot of water to go under the

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Speaker 2: bridge and a bit of consultation, but I think the

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Speaker 2: merging and will produce efficiencies. I think, you know, certainly

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Speaker 2: from our events sector, we've got to be really using

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Speaker 2: events strategically, you know, without a bottomless bucket of money,

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Speaker 2: we've got to make sure that we're using events really

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Speaker 2: strategically in the Northern Territory to really pump on the

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Speaker 2: visitor economy. And you know, I think there's efficiency. You know,

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Speaker 2: there's no need for two accountants and you know that

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Speaker 2: the like and you know, making sure that the strategy

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Speaker 2: is merged as we are also very supportive of the

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Speaker 2: fact that Parks and Wildlife is also in that Tourism

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Speaker 2: department now, so making sure that we get strategic alignment

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Speaker 2: is really critical.

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Speaker 1: Well, Daniel Rochford, CEO of Tourism Central Australia, really good

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Speaker 1: to speak to you this morning. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks it's much Katie, Thank you you too. Ki