He219
01-27-2004, 03:13 PM
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Drag diva host, 6 foot six inch 'Miss Penny Tration' (R), introduces contestants in the last heat for 'Miss Backpacker 2004' on stage at the KingsX Hotel in Sydney January 21, 2004. Contestants (L-R) Zosch Staines of Surrey West in the United Kingdom, Anna Erdelyi of Budapest in Hungary, Leonine Smith of Essex in the United Kingdom, Australian Rachel Morris of Noosa, and Jana Ullrich of Bremen in Germany are vying for the chance to win the title. *******/Will Burgess *******
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040127/i/r120138071.jpg
Drag diva host 'Miss Penny Tration' (3rd R) lays down the ground rules as entrants check their appearance for Miss Backpacker 2004 in the dressing room of the KingsX Hotel in Sydney January 21, 2004. Contestants (L-R) Anna Erdelyi of Budapest in Hungary, Australian Rachel Morris of Noosa, Zosch Staines of Surrey West in the United Kingdom, Jana Ullrich of Bremen in Germany, and Leonine Smith of Essex in the United Kingdom were competing in the final heat of Miss Backpacker and the chance to win $A1000.00 (US$781.00). Picture taken January 21. FOR RELEASE WITH FEATURE LIFE-AUSTRALIA-BACKPACKERS *******/Will Burgess
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20040127/mdf514474.jpg
Contestants Anna Erdelyi (2nd L), Jana Uiirich(4th L) and Leonine Smith(2nd R) swap clothes with men from the audience during the 'challenge section' of the 'Miss Backpacker 2004' competition in Sydney, January 21, 2004. Mainly British backpackers annually gather at the Kings X hotel in Sydney's notorious red light district to watch girls battle for the title of 'Miss Backpacker' and the chance to win $781. (Will Burgess/*******)
Search is on for Miss Backpacker (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/oukoe_life_australia_backpackers)
SYDNEY (*******) - It's a long way from diamante tiaras, satin sashes and a heartfelt desire for world peace, but competition at Miss Backpacker 2004 is hot.
At the KingsX Hotel in Sydney's notorious red light district, around 200 mainly British backpackers lured by the promise of "ravishing bosomed beauties" crowd the low-lit bar to see four girls battle it out in the latest heat of Miss Backpacker and the chance to win A$1,000 (425 pounds).
"I've always wanted to do something like this but never had the guts to in London," said Amy Fernandez, a 20-year-old with tattoos and diamante belly button stud.
"My mum's a big feminist, if she knew I was doing this, she'd kill me," said Fernandez, who lists her hobbies as drinking and soccer.
Contestants are marked on swimwear, streetwear and their ability to perform an on-stage challenge. The most taxing question they have to answer is what they like about Australia.
Huge cheers erupt when statuesque British blonde Vix Stevens, fresh from a wet T-shirt contest in Queensland, takes the swimwear section by storm as she rips off her black bikini top and springs into a topless handstand.
"I really rate the competition. I reckon my chances are pretty good, just on the crowd power, but the other girls are really pretty as well," said 22-year-old Stevens from Cornwall, who eventually proved the hands-down winner.
Worried about distracting passing drivers, the show's statuesque drag diva host Miss Penny Tration swiftly pulls down the curtains as contestants launch into the challenge section, stripping off and swapping clothes with boys from the audience.
"Goddamit, you're a pretty cow aren't you, just stay a metre and a half from me, you're making me look like a truck driver," boomed Miss Penny, wearing a red sequinned dress, as while introducing nervous 18-year-old Philippa Craig from Reading.
CROWD PULLERS
The KingsX Hotel, which also runs Britpop discos, karaoke and screenings of Eastenders, is just one of hundreds of pubs and hostels across the country looking to lure backpackers through their doors, most with offers of free beer or bunkbeds.
It is now trademarking Miss Backpacker, and launching a Mr Backpacker follow-up to the contest which pulls in four times the average number of mid-week drinkers.
"The competition is more about who comes in and has fun on stage, it's not about who is the most glamorous, although it does help," said Daniel Floyd, in a wig-cluttered dressing room, as he begins the hour-long transformation into Miss Penny Tration.
With spending by the 460,000 backpackers who arrive on the country's shores each year now totalling A$2.5 billion, Australia is welcoming them with open arms.
Fears of air attacks or another SARS outbreak have forced many mainstream holidaymakers to put off plans to travel to Australia, but the backpacker market has remained solid.
"It's a buoyant market. It's certainly a bit more bullet-proof," said Andrew McEvoy of the Australian Tourism Commission.
They may be extremely cash conscious, but backpackers often travel for months around Australia and spend more than double the amount per visitor than the average for all tourists.
Thousands of businesses -- from rent-a-wreck car firms, bars, tour operators and hostels, to blokey free magazine "British Balls!" with its weekly diet of sports and soap opera updates, have sprung up across the country to target the growing market.
"It's been busy since the Rugby World Cup. Even September 11 and all that hardly affected the backpacker market because Australia is still considered a safe place to travel," said Linda Parris, at the bustling Travellers Contact Point in downtown Sydney, a one-stop shop offering tours, jobs and visa services.
Bar work, labouring or fruit picking are some of the easiest ways for backpackers on year-long working holiday visas to help fund their travels. Some even choose to boost their budgets working in seedy massage parlours and lapdancing clubs.
But gone are the days when backpackers were content to stay in cockroach-infested hostels.
In a swish new Sydney apartment block with pool, sauna and gym, 11 so-called "champagne backpackers" are squeezed into a two-bedroom flat with sweeping city views, taking turns to sleep on camp beds or sofas and splitting the A$700 per week rent.
"I drove down from Cairns all the way to Sydney, and thought I'd done so many different hostels, so many different places, it was time just to settle down," said blonde Sharon Davis, 24, from Gloucestershire.
"With the number of people staying with us over Christmas, it was an absolute pit," said Davis, wearing an England rugby shirt.
INDUSTRY RAISES ITS STANDARDS
As the market gets more picky, the backpacker industry has been forced to raise its standards. And many businesses have found there's plenty of money to be made.
The Wake Up! hostel near Sydney's central station, one of Australia's biggest, is packed with 500 backpackers paying a minimum of A$25 a night to stay in the hostel with its seven themed levels and its own range of smiley face merchandise.
"You wouldn't get a free airport pick-up at the Hyatt where you're paying A$250 per night, but where you're paying A$15-20 a night at a backpackers, the service is phenomenal," said Richard McLeod, managing director of Nomad's World hostels.
Big corporates are now trying their luck.
Base Backpackers, set up by French hotel group Accor SA, is investing heavily, with plans for 20 modern hostels in Australia within the next four years, some featuring a girls-only "sanctuary", with beauty kits and Egyptian cotton sheets.
"Maybe their haircuts changed or they've got a different pair of sneakers, but it's the same sort of deal. The market's just matured and we've continued to grow the service offering to become more competitive," said Base's head Graham Warring.
Drag diva host, 6 foot six inch 'Miss Penny Tration' (R), introduces contestants in the last heat for 'Miss Backpacker 2004' on stage at the KingsX Hotel in Sydney January 21, 2004. Contestants (L-R) Zosch Staines of Surrey West in the United Kingdom, Anna Erdelyi of Budapest in Hungary, Leonine Smith of Essex in the United Kingdom, Australian Rachel Morris of Noosa, and Jana Ullrich of Bremen in Germany are vying for the chance to win the title. *******/Will Burgess *******
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040127/i/r120138071.jpg
Drag diva host 'Miss Penny Tration' (3rd R) lays down the ground rules as entrants check their appearance for Miss Backpacker 2004 in the dressing room of the KingsX Hotel in Sydney January 21, 2004. Contestants (L-R) Anna Erdelyi of Budapest in Hungary, Australian Rachel Morris of Noosa, Zosch Staines of Surrey West in the United Kingdom, Jana Ullrich of Bremen in Germany, and Leonine Smith of Essex in the United Kingdom were competing in the final heat of Miss Backpacker and the chance to win $A1000.00 (US$781.00). Picture taken January 21. FOR RELEASE WITH FEATURE LIFE-AUSTRALIA-BACKPACKERS *******/Will Burgess
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20040127/mdf514474.jpg
Contestants Anna Erdelyi (2nd L), Jana Uiirich(4th L) and Leonine Smith(2nd R) swap clothes with men from the audience during the 'challenge section' of the 'Miss Backpacker 2004' competition in Sydney, January 21, 2004. Mainly British backpackers annually gather at the Kings X hotel in Sydney's notorious red light district to watch girls battle for the title of 'Miss Backpacker' and the chance to win $781. (Will Burgess/*******)
Search is on for Miss Backpacker (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/oukoe_life_australia_backpackers)
SYDNEY (*******) - It's a long way from diamante tiaras, satin sashes and a heartfelt desire for world peace, but competition at Miss Backpacker 2004 is hot.
At the KingsX Hotel in Sydney's notorious red light district, around 200 mainly British backpackers lured by the promise of "ravishing bosomed beauties" crowd the low-lit bar to see four girls battle it out in the latest heat of Miss Backpacker and the chance to win A$1,000 (425 pounds).
"I've always wanted to do something like this but never had the guts to in London," said Amy Fernandez, a 20-year-old with tattoos and diamante belly button stud.
"My mum's a big feminist, if she knew I was doing this, she'd kill me," said Fernandez, who lists her hobbies as drinking and soccer.
Contestants are marked on swimwear, streetwear and their ability to perform an on-stage challenge. The most taxing question they have to answer is what they like about Australia.
Huge cheers erupt when statuesque British blonde Vix Stevens, fresh from a wet T-shirt contest in Queensland, takes the swimwear section by storm as she rips off her black bikini top and springs into a topless handstand.
"I really rate the competition. I reckon my chances are pretty good, just on the crowd power, but the other girls are really pretty as well," said 22-year-old Stevens from Cornwall, who eventually proved the hands-down winner.
Worried about distracting passing drivers, the show's statuesque drag diva host Miss Penny Tration swiftly pulls down the curtains as contestants launch into the challenge section, stripping off and swapping clothes with boys from the audience.
"Goddamit, you're a pretty cow aren't you, just stay a metre and a half from me, you're making me look like a truck driver," boomed Miss Penny, wearing a red sequinned dress, as while introducing nervous 18-year-old Philippa Craig from Reading.
CROWD PULLERS
The KingsX Hotel, which also runs Britpop discos, karaoke and screenings of Eastenders, is just one of hundreds of pubs and hostels across the country looking to lure backpackers through their doors, most with offers of free beer or bunkbeds.
It is now trademarking Miss Backpacker, and launching a Mr Backpacker follow-up to the contest which pulls in four times the average number of mid-week drinkers.
"The competition is more about who comes in and has fun on stage, it's not about who is the most glamorous, although it does help," said Daniel Floyd, in a wig-cluttered dressing room, as he begins the hour-long transformation into Miss Penny Tration.
With spending by the 460,000 backpackers who arrive on the country's shores each year now totalling A$2.5 billion, Australia is welcoming them with open arms.
Fears of air attacks or another SARS outbreak have forced many mainstream holidaymakers to put off plans to travel to Australia, but the backpacker market has remained solid.
"It's a buoyant market. It's certainly a bit more bullet-proof," said Andrew McEvoy of the Australian Tourism Commission.
They may be extremely cash conscious, but backpackers often travel for months around Australia and spend more than double the amount per visitor than the average for all tourists.
Thousands of businesses -- from rent-a-wreck car firms, bars, tour operators and hostels, to blokey free magazine "British Balls!" with its weekly diet of sports and soap opera updates, have sprung up across the country to target the growing market.
"It's been busy since the Rugby World Cup. Even September 11 and all that hardly affected the backpacker market because Australia is still considered a safe place to travel," said Linda Parris, at the bustling Travellers Contact Point in downtown Sydney, a one-stop shop offering tours, jobs and visa services.
Bar work, labouring or fruit picking are some of the easiest ways for backpackers on year-long working holiday visas to help fund their travels. Some even choose to boost their budgets working in seedy massage parlours and lapdancing clubs.
But gone are the days when backpackers were content to stay in cockroach-infested hostels.
In a swish new Sydney apartment block with pool, sauna and gym, 11 so-called "champagne backpackers" are squeezed into a two-bedroom flat with sweeping city views, taking turns to sleep on camp beds or sofas and splitting the A$700 per week rent.
"I drove down from Cairns all the way to Sydney, and thought I'd done so many different hostels, so many different places, it was time just to settle down," said blonde Sharon Davis, 24, from Gloucestershire.
"With the number of people staying with us over Christmas, it was an absolute pit," said Davis, wearing an England rugby shirt.
INDUSTRY RAISES ITS STANDARDS
As the market gets more picky, the backpacker industry has been forced to raise its standards. And many businesses have found there's plenty of money to be made.
The Wake Up! hostel near Sydney's central station, one of Australia's biggest, is packed with 500 backpackers paying a minimum of A$25 a night to stay in the hostel with its seven themed levels and its own range of smiley face merchandise.
"You wouldn't get a free airport pick-up at the Hyatt where you're paying A$250 per night, but where you're paying A$15-20 a night at a backpackers, the service is phenomenal," said Richard McLeod, managing director of Nomad's World hostels.
Big corporates are now trying their luck.
Base Backpackers, set up by French hotel group Accor SA, is investing heavily, with plans for 20 modern hostels in Australia within the next four years, some featuring a girls-only "sanctuary", with beauty kits and Egyptian cotton sheets.
"Maybe their haircuts changed or they've got a different pair of sneakers, but it's the same sort of deal. The market's just matured and we've continued to grow the service offering to become more competitive," said Base's head Graham Warring.