Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Danial Rochford from Tourism Central Australia about the desperate need to get tourists back to the NT

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Katie spoke with Danial Rochford from Tourism Central Australia about the desperate need to get tourists back to the NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now one industry which has been severely impacted by the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: situation that we are in when it comes to COVID
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and those hot spots and the lockdowns in various locations
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  Speaker 1: is tourism. And joining me on the line right now
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  Speaker 1: from Tourism Central Australia the CEO, Daniel Rochford. Good morning
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  Speaker 1: to you, Daniel.
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  Speaker 2: Good modern Kadian. Good morning to you, li, isn't it Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: We know that there's been some fairly significant moves around
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the nation within this week and quite differing approaches I
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  Speaker 1: think you'd have to say from different states when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to really trying to continue to live our lives.
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  Speaker 1: I think with COVID, we know that Western Australia obviously
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  Speaker 1: made the announcement that they're mandating the vaccine for particular industries.
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  Speaker 1: Queensland meanwhile announced a very definitive plan that phased border
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  Speaker 1: reopening for fully vaccinated people from November nineteen. Then fully
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  Speaker 1: vaccinated travelers will be allowed to enter Queensland without the
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  Speaker 1: need to quarantine from December seventeen. Daniel, from your perspective,
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  Speaker 1: do we need a definitive date here to know when
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  Speaker 1: we are going to open the borders up to travelers.
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  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, I suddenly affirm the comments made by Alex
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  Speaker 2: just a few minutes ago in terms of giving business
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  Speaker 2: certainty here in the Northern Territory and the government to
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  Speaker 2: identify time and a date in the future to provide
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  Speaker 2: that certainty is critical. We certainly, as you know, having
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  Speaker 2: the challenges that this pandemic has brought to our industry
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  Speaker 2: and at the moment our sector is on its knees
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  Speaker 2: and we need certainty and we need support.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel, I know you and I have spoken on so
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  Speaker 1: many occasions about the tough time that tourism is facing
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  Speaker 1: in Central Australia without sort of having a clear plan
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  Speaker 1: at this point when we are going to move past
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  Speaker 1: the need to quarantine for two weeks, whether it's at
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  Speaker 1: home or whether it's in a facility, how tough is
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  Speaker 1: that for your sector?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it's disastrous, Skaty. Look, you know, I'm at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: based on the advice that we have got from government
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  Speaker 2: in terms of the roadmap forward, essentially telling my members
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  Speaker 2: that the next few months in particular, we think what
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  Speaker 2: we've gone through is bad. We're only just getting to
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  Speaker 2: the eye of the cyclone and the challenges that we're
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  Speaker 2: going to face if we continue down the path that
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  Speaker 2: we are, and you know that it's the government's call,
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  Speaker 2: We're going to see visitation to Central Australia and right
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  Speaker 2: across the territory almost rolled back to almost nothing. And
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  Speaker 2: that's going to have immense challenges for our industry who
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  Speaker 2: are already suffering and who already don't have revenue coming
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  Speaker 2: through the door.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, because right now there is such you know, there
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  Speaker 1: is such disparity from state to state, like we know
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  Speaker 1: in New South Wales and Victoria or hotspots right now.
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  Speaker 1: But people can obviously travel into the Red center and
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  Speaker 1: all of the territorysand However, once Queensland opens up, there's
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  Speaker 1: no doubt that we're going to see COVID right around
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  Speaker 1: the nation. And if we continue on the path that
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  Speaker 1: we're on with the traffic light system i e. The
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  Speaker 1: Red and Amber zones, potentially you're not going to see
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  Speaker 1: anyone traveling into the territory.
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  Speaker 2: No, you most welcome to come to the Northern territory,
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  Speaker 2: but if you could just stay in this hotel for
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  Speaker 2: fourteen days, that would be appreciated. And look at the
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  Speaker 2: reality of that is that it will be disastrous for
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  Speaker 2: our sector. I guess. Look, I do appreciate, as Alex
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  Speaker 2: mentioned as well, the challenges our governments are facing. Look
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  Speaker 2: no more the case here in Central Australia. You know,
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  Speaker 2: twenty percent of the population of Central Australia is around
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  Speaker 2: six thousand people. I reckon the figure will be much
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  Speaker 2: higher than that in terms of those who are unvaccinated.
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  Speaker 2: We have three intensive care unit beds here at the
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  Speaker 2: Alice Springs Hospital, so that's the challenge the government has
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  Speaker 2: to deal with, which I do appreciate that they're trying
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  Speaker 2: to find a balancing act, but it's an either or
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  Speaker 2: argument here. You can only go one side. You've got
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  Speaker 2: to deal with the collateral damage on the other, or
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  Speaker 2: alternatively you give new work through to try and find
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  Speaker 2: that balance.
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  Speaker 1: What would the balance look be like for you from
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  Speaker 1: tourism's perspective.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, look, I think there's no doubt that there's got
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  Speaker 2: to be some short term support for our sector, especially
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  Speaker 2: over the summer months. As you know, this is the
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  Speaker 2: term we would traditionally get our international visitors, and the
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  Speaker 2: reports I'm getting every day from my members is essentially
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  Speaker 2: from a visitation. We're really rolling back. We're noticing it
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  Speaker 2: here in the Alice Springs Information Center. But all my
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  Speaker 2: members are saying that visitation is dropping dramatically and quickly,
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  Speaker 2: so we're going to see a significant decline in revenue
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  Speaker 2: right across our businesses, many of whom are already distressed
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  Speaker 2: and fragile, and what we're seeing is many making some
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  Speaker 2: very hard decisions and that's going to increase increase over
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  Speaker 2: the coming days and weeks. So there needs to be
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  Speaker 2: that form of support. I think there needs to be
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  Speaker 2: some hope, and that's where this concept of picking a
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  Speaker 2: date in the future is important. I think we need
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  Speaker 2: to have that certainly and understanding of when we will
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  Speaker 2: open up and when businesses can plan around that. So
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  Speaker 2: there has got to be a balancing act there. We
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  Speaker 2: do appreciate that safety and security in the government has
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  Speaker 2: done an enormous job, and governments at all levels have
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  Speaker 2: done an enormous job keeping us safe thus far. But
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  Speaker 2: this is going to be the most challenging time of
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  Speaker 2: this pandemic and the effects of the pandemic and needs
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  Speaker 2: to be done in a balanced way. Otherwise we're not
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  Speaker 2: going to have a tourism industry on the other side, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: and that's the challenge that we need to understand. We
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  Speaker 2: need to rebound from this really quickly. The new South
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  Speaker 2: Wales government yesterday released half a billion dollar support package
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  Speaker 2: for the tourism industry to rebound. We need to have
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  Speaker 2: these discussions now here in the territory as well, how
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  Speaker 2: do we rebound rebound out of this pandemic.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and this is the thing, I mean, without even
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  Speaker 1: having a date at this point in time when people
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  Speaker 1: can travel freely into the Northern Territory. And yes, we
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  Speaker 1: all understand the health impacts here and you've made that
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  Speaker 1: really clear as well when talking about those three intensive
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  Speaker 1: care beds in Central Australia. But right now without having
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  Speaker 1: that date, it's hard to know even how you can
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  Speaker 1: market the Northern Territory to the rest of Australia at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time.
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  Speaker 2: Indeed, it's more than just that too, Katie. It's about
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  Speaker 2: giving our industry some hope that there is a light
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  Speaker 2: at the end of the tunnel and from as a
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  Speaker 2: morale booster that is worth millions of dollars to our
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  Speaker 2: industry who are currently don't see a lot of hope.
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  Speaker 2: And then as we talk on the radio today to
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  Speaker 2: talking across the kitchen table about what they're going to do,
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  Speaker 2: whether they're going to close their business or put it
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  Speaker 2: into hibernation or continue to trade. Having that sense of
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  Speaker 2: hope is going to be critical.
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  Speaker 1: Can they afford to wait until January or February.
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  Speaker 2: Well, at this stage, what we're hearing from our members
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  Speaker 2: is that many, many of our operators who are purely
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  Speaker 2: leisure based tourism businesses are under enormous financial distress. And
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  Speaker 2: we've recently received feedback from surveys that we've lost five
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  Speaker 2: percent of our industry to this point, and I suspect
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  Speaker 2: that figure will only grow higher.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Daniel Rochford, I think we really need this plan
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  Speaker 1: to come out and come out soon, giving Territorians a
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  Speaker 1: much fairer idea of where we're headed and when it's happening,
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  Speaker 1: so that our business people, our tourism operators particularly are
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  Speaker 1: able to really work out where to go to from
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  Speaker 1: here and how long it's going to take. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: then for everyday territory and so I hoping to have
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  Speaker 1: family come and visit and be able to travel again.
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  Speaker 1: It's also an important thing. But yeah, it is such
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  Speaker 1: a tough situation that so many are in at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: and I really feel for you guys in Central Australia,
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  Speaker 1: those tourism operators. I know it's tough going.
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  Speaker 2: Oh look thanks Katie and look at the industry very
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  Speaker 2: much appreciative and support, and of course everyone's got their
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  Speaker 2: territory voucher. So the biggest thing your listeners can do
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  Speaker 2: is hop onto our website, Discover Central Australia and book
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  Speaker 2: one of those amazing Red Center of packages. We've got
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  Speaker 2: a couple of charters coming down from Darwen in January,
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  Speaker 2: so all support of this difficult time would be greatly apprentiate. Well,
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  Speaker 2: I've got you mate.
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  Speaker 1: I've been doing those live reads for Tourism Central Australia
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  Speaker 1: and I'm wondering, what is this mountain? Is it Helly
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  Speaker 1: mountain biking? What's it called?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Alice Spring helicopters have recently pivoted during the last
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  Speaker 2: few months and they doing Helly mountain biking. So they
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  Speaker 2: strap your mountain bike to the helicopter, they take you
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  Speaker 2: up into the West or East Max and drop you
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  Speaker 2: off and then you can mountain bike back to Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 1: Oh that sounds awesome. What a fantastically fun thing to do. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: you Daniel.
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  Speaker 2: It's a really great product and I've just seen some
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  Speaker 2: vision of it. Actually, it's an awesome experience. And look,
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  Speaker 2: there's many businesses that made pivots and that perfect example
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  Speaker 2: of one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, all good on them. And that does sound well,
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  Speaker 1: it sounds action packed. Maybe a bit too difficult for me,
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  Speaker 1: but maybe from my husban