Sunday, September 04, 2011

UK Daily Telegraph on Newcastle

My thanks to Greg for this one.

Newcastle, Australia: ramshackle glamour on apricot beaches

What has the Australian city of Newcastle got that Sydney and Melbourne haven’t?

According to the UK's Telegraph, its ramshackle glamour on apricot beaches!

It's actually not a bad story although, as some commenters pointed out, it still suffers from the confusion that you have to get to Newcastle from Sydney. That's not true, of course, given the flights from other cities to Newcastle. The story also fails to recognise that Newcastle is an entry point not just to the Hunter, but to the broader North.

Still, it's nice to see Newcastle and the Hunter getting further recognition.

2 comments:

Greg said...

You are absolutey right Jim - Newcastle needs to be promoted as a destination in its own right with air links to many Australian cities as well as being the gateway - not just to the Hunter Valley - but the entire north of the state.

Some of the descriptions are rather bizarre. I don't think that trains have chugged into Newcastle for 40 years. Amble would be a better description of the dawdling electric service. And apricot beaches? I am struggling to decipher just what that means.

But the article generally is flattering and the author gets some things spot on - especially the observation "not hellish, not heaven either - it is more interesting than that".

I often wonder just why it is that total outsiders can see what many of our own countrymen do not.

Jim Belshaw said...

On your last point, Greg, they probably have no preconceptions. One of the reasons why targeted Australian tourism promotion for Newcastle & the broader New England is so important lies in the shifting of perceptions that actually extend beyond tourism itself.