Regional Brochure
Things have been very busy in the Aussie Gateways office over the past few months and we're happy to announce the regional brochure is currently being printed. Thank you to all members who sent us feedback on the draft brochure. We appreciate your input and have accommodated the few changes you asked for. Your response has affirmed our decision to keep Aussie Gateways a team project with input from all members welcomed and acted upon. Copies of the brochure will be distributed to all members as soon as possible. It will also be placed into VIC's, restaurants, clubs, cafes and a variety of other outlets throughout the region.

August Business, Educational, Tourism Newsletter 2002
General Newsletter August 2002
		Regional Brochure Things have been very busy in the Aussie Gateways office over the past few months and we're happy to announce the regional brochure is currently being printed. Thank you to all members who sent us feedback on the draft brochure. We appreciate your input and have accommodated the few changes you asked for. Your response has affirmed our decision to keep Aussie Gateways a team project with input from all members welcomed and acted upon. Copies of the brochure will be distributed to all members as soon as possible. It will also be placed into VIC's, restaurants, clubs, cafes and a variety of other outlets throughout the region.
	Presentation Video We recently edited a twelve minute video which explains the entire Aussie Gateways Project. This video focuses on the key components of the project, the concept of teamwork and the ongoing nature of the project. This is available for prospective members and is used as an educational aid. If you know of any tourism industry operators who may like to join the Aussie Gateways network, please let us know and we'll visit them and leave them a copy of the video. This video will also be available on CD in the very near future. If you would like a copy, please let us know. Special thanks to the management and staff at North Star Holiday Resort, Hasting's Point for allowing us to shoot video footage on their premises and also for providing the "talent" to appear in the visuals. Your contribution to this video is very much appreciated. Also, special thanks to Coolangatta / Tweed Tours and Transfers for bringing the bus to appear in the video. Tim Landon and Ashley Beadel turned out to be natural actors!
		Aussie Gateways Project Self Drive Brochure Presentation CD & Video
	Television Schedules We are looking at further television schedules for both the Northern Rivers and Southern Gold Coast regions. As the initial budget has been spent on creating the media resources, and placing television schedules into Tamworth, Toowoomba and Newcastle, the next phase of scheduling will evolve from our latest group of members. In many ways we can say the bulk of the hard work is behind us and now the media resources will do the work of attracting interest in the region. In order to put to air schedules that are strategically placed and ongoing we need a constant flow of new members so that the cost of regional marketing is shared by a number of tourism industry operators. Therefore, if you know other operators who may like to become involved please let us know as they can build on to what you and others have started.
	Membership We are pleased to report that the Aussie Gateways network has now spread as far west as Tenterfield with new members coming from this region. This area has often been labelled the Gateway to Big Sky Country but with world events of the last twelve months tourism industry operators in this region are reporting many holiday-makers using Tenterfield as a Gateway to the Coast. Also, visitors are enjoying a number of days in the Tenterfield region experiencing the natural beauty & local attractions, visiting the local wineries and enjoying the company of very friendly, local people. All in all, Tenterfield provides wonderful experience that reinforces the fact that we have a very diverse region that provides a fantastic variety of getaway experiences. Aussie Gateways Tours Coolangatta / Tweed Tours & Transfers has set up a number of tours into the Northern Rivers region, thus providing new experiences for visitors. Trips to Crystal Creek Miniatures, Tropical Fruit World, Tumbulgum, Stott's Island and Murwillumbah have taken place to date. Tim also drops guests off to take a fantastic trip up the Tweed River with Tweed Endeavour Cruises. Once again, if you would like to give your guests access to these tours please phone Tim Landon on (07) 5523 1536. For a list of tours available please access http://www.aussiegateways.com.au/southerngoldcoast/gc_tours.htm and http://www.aussiegateways.com.au/tours.htm Similarly, Les Roughead from Tweed Coast Limousines provides airport transfers for guests and transportation to weddings and special occasions. Les' return airport transfers attract a 10% discount. Make these services available to your guests by phoning Les on 1800 442 199. Operators in the Ballina & Lismore areas are encouraged to contact John Sheldon on 0414 664 552 for cruises up & down the Richmond River on the MV Bennelong. Brunswick Valley operators are encouraged to contact Brunswick Valley Coach & Travel on (02) 6680 1566 for tours of the area. Search Engines We have investigated further representation of the Aussie Gateways portal through search engines and now have a Melbourne-based company working on continuous submissions of the portal to search engines. We have also changed our meta tags slightly to attract new browsers from different sectors of the market. We will monitor this step and also ask you to let us know if you find a change in the number of accesses to your site. Be assured, by working as a team we can build very successful marketing campaigns. On-line Booking We have been approached by many companies who provide on-line booking facilities. As one of these companies became a member of the Aussie Gateways network and is contributing to the marketing of both regions, we are happy to introduce you to Dreamcatcher Tourism & Leisure. This firm has also provided the 360 degree panoramic views of specific sites in the region that are currently displayed on the Aussie Gateways portal. If you are interested in obtaining direct on-line booking facilities please contact Ken Dinham at Dreamcatcher on (02) 6680 7638 or 0419 487430. I believe this on-line booking service is attached to your own site, (not hosted on another site) is controlled by you and is provided for a small flat fee per booking. (ie:Fees are not charged as a percentage) Ken will be able to give you more information. Thanks again to all members for your support and your willingness to contribute to a team effort. In a short time a lot of ground work has been covered, much has been established and now both the Northern Rivers and Southern Gold Coast regions are in a position to reap the benefits. By working together we can showcase both regions in a very positive way and encourage visitors to participate in a variety of holiday experiences. All the best, Mark & Lisa Russell