Bed & Breakfast and Farmstay Association of NSW
2003 Conference Report and Wrapup
The 2003 Annual State Conference of the Bed & Breakfast and Farmstay
Association of New South Wales was its first since its assumption of its
new name and the amalgamation with the Farm & Country Holiday
Association.
It was probably the most professional Conference hitherto
conducted by the Association from its high profile industry sponsors,
the range of quality speakers across a breadth of topics all of which
were of use to the experienced operator, the huge array of lucky draw
prizes, the quality of the two social functions and, of course, the
efficiency of the registration desk and the organising committee -
Sydney's Best Bed & Breakfast.
Held on 27 and 28 August in conjunction with the Association's AGM, the
conference began with a two-and-a-half hour seminar on the Wednesday
afternoon that showed operators how to assess the ongoing financial
performance of their business in an easy to understand no-frills
approach to financial analysis. It went down well with an audience not
noted for its strong focus on financial matters.
The seminar, entitled "Beyond Survival" was presented by
Rob Lockhart. This was followed by the AGM and the day was concluded
with a cocktail party at the conference venue - the Country Embassy
Grosvenor Place Sydney, a great venue with wonderful view of Sydney
harbour.
The main conference day began with a speaker whose personal experience
was highly motivational in a topic that appealed to all: "Its all about
attitude".
This was followed by a travel journalist who engaged her
audience with a topic "Marketing Outside your Age Group" helping
operators to understand the developing 30s travellers.
"What makes
great Coffee" followed and this talk described the best conditions for both
espresso and filter coffee, an integral part of the quality B&B or
Farmstay experience.
After a morning break, there was a fascinating
talk about the rapidly growing "army" of people with disability who are
looking for disability friendly accommodation.
Tim Fischer's keynote
address on "Domestic Tourism and Communities that Count" was perhaps the
highlight of the day with Tim drawing upon his recently published
research on the value of communities working together to a common
purpose and they had some combined leadership, community cohesiveness and
"lateral thinking" to do wonderful things for their town or community.
After lunch the winner of the Association's Breakfast Recipe Competition
was announced in the context of a discussion lead by the editor of the
ABC's food magazine Delicious on "A Fresh Approach".
This was followed by two speakers describing the conditions that would
need to be in place to attract inbound tourism and a review by AAATourism
of the Star rating System as it applied to B&Bs and Farmstays.
Before the close of formal proceedings of the conference, a panel
discussion fielded questions from the audience on the industry and the
work of the Association.
The Conference was compered by John Alwyn-Jones, a senior executive with
Tourism New South Wales; his efficient and friendly hand at the helm
did much to make the conference what it was.
Conference sponsors and attendees who did not have to rush off home
enjoyed a meal on the fabulous Sydney Harbour. Informal and relaxed,
it allowed those who attended to catch up with one another and compare
notes on what had been a most successful conference.
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