I think some people are missing the point I was trying to make earlier here. I certainly don’t think anyone who pays to go see the birds now is doing anything wrong, that’s their prerogative. However, you are not being charged $450 for a complete guided experience. You are being charged $450 for access to the site. As I understand it on top of this you have to pay for your own car, fuel, and food. This means for a day trip to the site you could be looking at over $800. Add flights and accommodation and it is not a cheap trip by any stretch of the imagination. My objection is in no way to do with the idea of charging to show people the birds. If you are going to do that though, offer people something at a reasonable price. Normally I would say let the market sort out what a reasonable price is, but we have here a completely artificial situation unlikely to be affected by market forces as it’s probably a once-off. Whether you choose to compare it to Thai birding or US birding, or anywhere else in the world, my original point stands that I wouldn’t pay $450 for access to a site anywhere for any bird, and as I suspected other people in the birding community feel the same way. I sincerely hope one day an indigenous bird or wildlife guiding business does get off the ground, but if they are being led to believe this is the kind of pricing structure they should use, I doubt it would succeed.
For those who have paid, and seen the birds, good for you and I’m sure you consider the experience worth it. Spare a thought for those of us who would have loved to have gone had the price been easier to bear.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
On Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 6:15 PM, Elizabeth Shaw wrote:
> I agree with Steve, > When I was doing bird guiding in sw Gippsland up to 6 years ago I really > needed to clear at least $200 a day to cover costs – I never paid myself a > wage. Insurance is an immense cost to small nature guiding tours, not to > mention cost of running vehicles and remember four guides – one from CLC and > three local landowners who need a lot of knowledge to avoid sacred sites and > inadvertent trespass and damage to them. The aboriginal guides probably > devote about 3 days to a one day tour with customers. > > As Steve said, the distances cover and the resultant wear and tear on > vehicles to get guides to the meeting place, food and other supplies all > cost and costs out there are exorbitant to travellers and locals alike. > Don’t assume that the guides are sitting around doing nothing waiting for > the occasional tour group to come along. They probably have some other work > they have to leave undone or pay for someone else to do. > > Comparing outback Australia to places like Thailand is ridiculous and > insensitive. I too missed out of seeing the Princess parrot while I was up > there earlier this year. While the cost would be crippling for me living on > ill-health retirement superannuation, I might have somehow made it happen – > maybe even forego the two nights most basic accommodation (not counting > food) at Yulara. > > Cheers > Elizabeth Shaw > Phillip Island > Victoria > —– Original Message —– From: “Steve” > To: > Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 4:48 PM > Subject: [Birding-Aus] The price of Princess Parrots > > > > Hello all. I know people are probably getting tired of this topic but some >> things have been said that are at best ill considered, and at worst, just >> plain rude. If you think $450.00 for a days guiding to see one of >> Australia’s most difficult birds, then that’s fine. But don’t go making >> accusations about “Rip offs” and “profiteering” without knowing anything >> about how the fees have been constructed. First of all, the permit is not >> just “a piece of paper” allowing you to enter someone’s land. It covers >> the >> costs involved in escorting you through that land. The indigenous owners >> have decreed that they don’t want people wandering willy nilly through >> their >> property (gee I wonder why not?) The logistics of making this happen are >> not even remotely comparable with what happens in Thailand, so why even >> bring it up? Just remember there are huge distances involved here. People >> came from Alice Springs to co-ordinate this which is a four and half hour >> drive away, and petrol is expensive out there. Our indigenous guides >> camped >> out in the middle of nowhere to meet us on the morning of the viewing. >> Come >> on guys, there is more involved here than people realise. I don’t know how >> the figure is arrived at myself, and yes, it was expensive for me too. But >> I >> wouldn’t dream of calling it a rip off without knowing all the facts. And >> to >> criticise those that are prepared to pay the amount on the grounds that it >> encourages gouging.well, that’s just beyond the pale. >> >> Steve Murray >> >> =============================== >> >> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, >> send the message: >> unsubscribe >> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) >> to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au >> >> http://birding-aus.org >> =============================== >> > > =============================== > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: > unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) > to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au > > http://birding-aus.org > =============================== > ===============================
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