Tourists find sun, sea and scams in Sydney……….rip off capital of Australia
An article in The Daily Telegraph says that Sydney has become the rip-off capital of Australia with tourists being slugged up to $1200 for a sheepskin rug and charged to visit free attractions such as Bondi Beach and war memorials.
Tourism bosses claim unscrupulous retailers and guides are helping to destroy the Olympic city’s image as a world-class destination and are at least partly to blame for plummeting revenue and visitor numbers.
After arriving in the country, tourists are often tricked out of their money in backyard foreign exchange deals while thousands are taken on “forced shopping” trips to so-called tax-free outlets. The stores turn out to be stark suburban warehouses selling goods at over-inflated prices.
The kickbacks are extracted daily from tourists lured to Australia on budget package deals costing as little as $2000 for travel, accommodation and meals.
Managing director of the Australian Tourism Export Council Matthew Hingerty said yesterday tourists were forced to spend hours on buses and were prevented from visiting legitimate stores, adding, “Complaints are filtering back to us but there is nowhere for them (unhappy visitors) to go,” he said.
The scams are catalogued in an extensive report prepared by professional services firm KPMG, showing tourism in NSW has gone backwards since the 2000 Olympics.
“They (tourists) pay for what they believe will be five-star experiences but the reality is well short of that mark,” the report, to be released today, states.
“Paid tours often are padded out by visits to free landmarks such as beaches, memorials, museums and icons such as the Opera House.”
“Tourists often endure long day trips with little activity, including trips to Canberra involving little more than a brief walk around the War Memorial and Parliament House.”
The report, commissioned by the Tourism Business Alliance, states there is “little evidence of any regard for the consumer rights of foreign tourists”.
One hotel operator said: “Everyone thinks the hub of all this is on the Gold Coast but that’s rubbish – the headquarters are in Sydney.” “These tourists are being sold $10 packets of macadamia nuts for $40 or $50.
“They are also sold a product called Essence of Kangaroo, made up of ground-up kangaroo meat extract, and told it will give them strength in the bedroom.” “When they ask whether it works they are told, ‘Of course, look at the number of kangaroos’.”
Calling for tougher consumer protection laws to protect tourists, the KPMG report revealed the NSW $23 billion tourism industry is in deep trouble.
It found the NSW suffered a disastrous loss of market share and prestige against rival states since the 2000 Games – costing it an estimated $1.4 billion in tourism revenue.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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