So, where the bloody hell are they? Australia's tourism authorities hose down fears of a slump: all the signs of a looming recession are there: petrol is up, gas-guzzling 4WDs are on the nose, retail spending is down, property values appear to have stalled--oh, and shoplifting is up, A pretty good bunch of indicators that the economy is, well, a bit wobbly on its feet.(AUSTRALIA'S VANISHING TOURISTS?)

Even the regular crop of snow-bunnies at our winter resorts say they're watching the pennies, forcing ski lift operators to drastically reduce their prices to lure the punters onto the pommas. Tough times, indeed.

One sector of the economy that must be more than a little nervous is the tourism industry. Putting aside the must-fly business customers, this is a business that's hugely dependent upon discretionary spend--people can decide to travel, or not, on the flip of a coin, or the downturn of an economy. If rising fuel prices frighten domes tic grey nomads thinking of setting off around Australia, they scare the wits out of potential visitors from Europe or the USA, faced with steeply rising air fares.

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Last year's infamous ad campaign, based on the pneumatic Ms Lara Bingle cooing "So, where the bloody hell are ya?", was a bit of a curate's egg for tourism authorities: while it worked well in some places, it went down like a lead balloon in others. Even the Pores, not known for their prudery in general (witness decades of 'Carry On' movies), took exception to the tone of the Aussie campaign, and billboard campaigns had to be ditched.

So, has it all turned a bit sour for the local tourist trade? Has the massive goodwill engendered by movies like 'Crocodile Dundee' and 'Priscilla' evaporated at the first sign of a global recession? Are our travel industry operators looking down a very long, bleak highway, with no sign of advancing hordes of money toting tourists on the horizon?

Well, according to figures released by Tourism Research Australia, things aren't nearly as bleak as the doomsayers would have us believe.

According to the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS), ...