AFTER a transcontinental romance, former Dowerin correspondent for the Avon Valley Advocate and now Muresk Ph.D. student Karen Crute has become engaged.
Karen will marry wheat, corn and soyabean irrigation farmer Michael Schwarz of Beaudesert in Queensland.
The couple met at the Grainsweek Conference in Brisbane in April as two of the 70 delegates selected as Rural Leaders.
Michael sat next to Karen at the conference dinner and kept in (Karen says “businesslike") touch afterwards although they began to find they had more in common.
Related Travel Information
Queensland's tourism industry is continuing its fight to stop the Federal Government imposing the goods and services tax (GST) on overseas visitors.
The industry is trying to stop a bill being passed through the Senate and will be among the groups taking their case to a public hearing in Brisbane next week.
Daniel Gschwind from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council says the imposition of the tax could turn people away from Australia.
"The demand for a product is always influenced by the price and clearly Australia is a relatively high cost experience for visitors," he said.
"We are a long way away from most
I won two tickets to anywhere in Australia back in the old Ansett days some 11 years ago. Decided to take a friend in need to visit Kakadu & catch some Barramundi.
We hired a car & did the triangle Katherine through to Jabiru. We were only a couple of days from the finish of our trip & staying at the Croc Hotel. I set the task to my girlfriend to find two good looking local blocks with a boat so I could catch my Barra. It was State of Origin so pretty well all the guys were two sheets
At the beginning of the 1990s Japan's currency, the yen, was so strong that it caused an intense controversy in Australia.
Some people feared that Japanese buying power was so strong that many of our precious national assets would soon be owned by investors from Tokyo.
Fifteen years on, it is Australia's dollar that is so strong that the Australian tourism industry is now worried that Japanese people will not travel here any more.
Many Japanese are cutting costs where they can, apparently booking fewer holidays to Australia.
Even the most popular destinations such as far north Queensland may be lucky to beat last
At the beginning of the 1990s Japan's currency, the yen, was so strong that it caused an intense controversy in Australia.
Some people feared that Japanese buying power was so strong that many of our precious national assets would soon be owned by investors from Tokyo.
Fifteen years on, it is Australia's dollar that is so strong that the Australian tourism industry is now worried that Japanese people will not travel here any more.
Many Japanese are cutting costs where they can, apparently booking fewer holidays to Australia.
Even the most popular destinations such as far north Queensland may be lucky to beat last
Three industry leaders will join Warwick Smith in a Consultative Group responsible for developing an Emerging Markets Strategy.
Warwick Smith, Executive Director of Macquarie Bank Limited, is chair of the Consultative Group for the strategy, which will work to maximise the enormous export potential of Australia’s two fastest-growing inbound tourism markets—China and India. The Group will be supported by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources.
"Developing an Emerging Markets Strategy will position Australia for long-term capture of the emerging inbound tourism markets," Fran Bailey said.
“It will dovetail with the National Tourism Investment Strategy to ensure we fully address any impediments to