Australia’s tourism leaders, airlines and tour operators work hard and spend millions to promote our country to the world.
They sign joint agreements or team up with the likes of Chris Hemsworth to sell images of our clear, blue waters, stunning scenery and underwater activities.
Taken by both the actor’s voice, influence and of course our gorgeous land, travellers are then booking trips (in record numbers) and heading to the Land Down Under.
Once they arrive, everything is almost as they were promised with tropical sea creatures in the Great Barrier Reef, soft adventure in the Kimberley, unique culture in the Top End and iconic architecture in Sydney.
Everything is perfect. Well, almost perfect.
There is one thing that could be letting Australian tourism down and it’s not just affecting international tourists, it’s impacting locals too… taxis.
Not to completely trash the sometimes friendly men who drive us around when we either don’t know where we’re going, too lazy to walk or CBF with public transport, but… a new study has found that six out of 10 people who use Australian taxis are unhappy about their journey.
According to the OmniPoll survey commissioned by Airtrain, 21 percent of respondents said they felt the taxi driver was taking the wrong route in order to drive up the fare. This issue was emphasised by a quarter of NSW/ACT taxi users.
Around 16 percent of 18-24 year olds felt their driver was rude, aggressive or uncommunicative during their trip, while nearly one in 10 said they felt unsafe with the erratic and dangerous driving.
CEO of Airtrain, Chris Basche said it’s important to understand what Australians want in order to provide solutions such as better service or alternatives like Airtrain or Uber.