Asian Tsunami Appeal

With South East Asia's tourism region decimated by the tsunami disaster, members of the Australian tourism industry launch an appeal to raise much needed financial assistance to support those whose livelihoods have been severely affected.

January 4, 2005 -- Commencing Monday January 3rd, 2005 Accom.Com.Au has launched an online charity appeal to raise funds for victims of the tsunami disaster, with proceeds to be donated directly to aid organization World Vision Australia

Appeal co-ordinator Mr Matt Halloran says products and services which have been donated by Australian tourism operators will be offered to the public via online auction website eBay.

Details of the appeal and items available for auction can be viewed at: www.accom.com.au/appeal

"Our appeal aims to raise much needed ongoing financial assistance for disaster relief efforts", says Mr Halloran, managing director of Accom.Com.Au Pty Ltd. "Clearly such relief will be required for many weeks, if not months or years to come".

Mr Halloran said he had been in contact with Paul O'Mahoney, Corporate and Donor Relations Manager (NSW) of World Vision Australia to advise him of the appeal launch out of professional courtesy - not only to the aid organisation, but to other tourism industry participants as well.

The online charity appeal has kicked off with items from the Swiss Grand Hotel Bondi Beach, Coogee Bay Boutique Hotel, Sydney Boulevard Hotel, and Family passes donated by Oceanworld, Manly in Sydney - all of which are now open for bidding.

The response from the industry is gathering pace. Karen Ballantyne, Operations Manager of Oceanworld, Manly said their donation was a unique way to encourage tourists to contribute to a worthy cause.

"Oceanworld would be delighted to assist with fundraising and can offer 10 family passes for 2 adults & 2 children, which usually retail for $41.95 and include all daily shows and feeds, valid till end July 2005"

A number of other operators have indicated they are also putting packages together. New auction items will be listed and added to the auction over the coming days and weeks as further industry donations arrive, with all items being tracked and listed on Accom.Com.Au's appeal site www.accom.com.au/appeal .

For those who do not wish to place bids for items that being auctioned, the site also provides links to all the major charity organisations, as well as the latest news and press release from World Vision.

"The scale of this disaster is so obviously overwhelming, so it's important to remember that every little bit helps whether people can bid or donate $1 or $100", said Mr Halloran.

He anticipates that further auction items will be listed over coming days and weeks as the industry responded to the crisis, and has plans for the auction to proceed on an ongoing basis for a number of weeks, and possibly months.

Mr Halloran said he welcomed any assistance that those in the tourism industry may be able to provide in donating vouchers or items for the online auction fundraising campaign.

Given the catastrophic and heartbreaking events throughout the Asian region over the last few days, it is obvious that, apart from the unbelievable amount of lives lost, community livelihoods which have been heavily dependent on tourism and other industries have been lost or, at best, severely affected.

"We feel deeply for our tourism colleagues in the region especially given the long term destruction wrought by the disaster upon tourism and basic community infrastructure", says Mr Halloran.

"The economies in this region in the past have been largely reliant on tourism expenditure - not just in hotels and resorts, but local markets and shops as well".

"Therefore we felt compelled to initiate this grassroots campaign on their behalf."

"If you are in a position to be able to approach other tourism industry partners and create value added packages or combinations of products and services that we can auction as major fundraising items, please have them contact us. It would make our fundraising efforts that much easier", he said.

To receive details and links to current auction items, information on upcoming auctions, fundraising updates, and the latest news and information on how your support is helping victims of the Asian Earthquake disaster visit: www.accom.com.au/appeal

Visitors to this site can also register their details to receive the appeal newsletter, with details of upcoming items to be auctioned, along with the latest fundraising updates from the appeal.

 Accom.com.au Pty Ltd and Wise Words Information Services are donating their combined resources to this appeal.

Contact details

 Appeal co-ordinator
 Matt Halloran,
 Managing Director
 Accom.Com.Au Pty Ltd.
 mhalloran AT accom.com.au
 mobile on 0425 344 124
www.accom.com.au

 Sean McIntyre
 Wise Words Information Services
 seab.mcintyre AT wisewords.com.au
 0413 397 441
www.wisewords.com.au/staging


 ABOUT ACCOM.COM.AU
 Accom.Com.Au operates a number of travel & tourism websites, including www.accom.com.au and www.frogandtoad.com.au (which has been online since 1999, and generates over 2.5 million hits per month, putting it amongst the top 10% of visited websites throughout the world).

 ABOUT WISE WORDS INFORMATION SERVICES
 Wise Words Information Services offers commercial services in media and communications. Specialising in consumer finance, Wise Words also services clients within the tourism and arts sectors. Further details and samples of commercial services are available at www.wisewords.com.au.