Star Studded line up set for Perth International

Reigning US PGA Champion and world number 16, Jason Dufner, has confirmed his return to the PGA Tour of Australasia for the 2014 Perth International at Lake Karrinyup Country Club from 23 to 26 October.

Dufner won his first Major Championship last August at Oak Hill in Rochester, NY and will return to Perth after finishing second in the inaugural event in 2012.

He will be joined in the field by the charismatic and talented 24 year old Frenchman, Victor Dubuisson.
Dubuisson is currently the number 1 player on the European Ryder Cup Points list; number 5 on the Race to Dubai Rankings and number 20 in the world rankings.

Dubuisson has enjoyed a terrific past year winning his maiden European Tour title in Turkey last October and reached the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.

Dufner and Dubuisson are most likely to be rivals at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles four weeks before the Perth International.

Commenting on his return to Perth, Jason Dufner said “I had a great time in Perth two years ago.
"I loved the city, the hospitality and the terrific golf course at Lake Karrinyup.

"I had a terrific battle to the end in 2012, closing as runner-up, and I am hoping to go one better and take home the trophy."

Dubuisson played in the World Cup in Australia last November but this will mark his first trip to Perth.
“I am looking forward to my first trip to Western Australia and have heard a lot of good things about the course and the tournament," said Dubuisson.

"It will be an important event for me in the lead up to the Final Series and Dubai World Championship.”
The Perth International also announced that Korean born, Australian based Jin Jeong will return to defend his title and will be joined in the field by five time European Tour champion and local favourite Brett Rumford, along with Steven Bowditch who won his maiden PGA TOUR title in April at the Texas Open.

On the initial player announcements, David Rollo, Vice President-Director of Golf IMG Australia remarked, “we are delighted to see Jason and Victor commit to the 2014 Perth International and there is no doubt this year’s field will be strongest we have seen with more exciting announcements to follow.

"It is a validation of the outstanding support of Tourism Western Australia and we have the makings of a world class tournament this October.”

The Perth International is now in its third year and is owned and promoted by IMG.

It is proudly supported by the Western Australian Government, through Tourism WA, and is the only Australian tournament to be co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

The Perth International is also partnered with premium brands including Crown Perth, Emirates Airlines, The West Australian and the Seven Network.

Lake Karrinyup Country Club is widely acknowledged as Western Australia’s premier private golf club and has been regularly rated as one of the top ten golf courses in Australia.

Source: http://www.pga.org.au/article-display/star-studded-line-up-set-for-perth-international/138544

Tourism Australia Launches New Online Events Calendar

This new online resource will make life much easier for those working in our industry, helping them to select the most appropriate events to participate in or attend here and overseas

Tourism Australia has launched a new online calendar, to assist the industry plan their participation in tourism events in Australia and key international markets.

Tourism Australia’s General Manager Destination Development, Katherine Droga, said the fully searchable calendar provided a valuable one stop shop for the tourism industry, providing an online hub of nearly 80 domestic and international tourism events.

“This new online resource will make life much easier for those working in our industry, helping them to select the most appropriate events to participate in or attend here and overseas,” Ms Droga said.

“Thanks to input from across industry, including our state and territory tourism partners and the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), we now have a simple, user-friendly tool which will greatly assist in planning for and participating in key international and domestic events such as G’Day USA, ATE14, Corroboree China and ATEC Meeting Place,” she said

Hamilton Island Enterprises General Manager of Sales, Philippa Harrison, welcomed the new online calendar as a much needed tool in an industry where trade events are a crucial part of business activity.

“Hamilton Island has a strong presence at industry events, it’s how we reach key decision makers in our target markets, so we are really pleased this new online events calendar will make the process of searching and selecting the right events for us a lot simpler,” Ms Harrison said.

The Tourism Industry Events Calendar is housed on Tourism Australia’s corporate website and allows industry to search by date, relevant market and host organisation, as well as add their own key events matching the set criteria. It will be regularly updated and acts as the central hub of event information, providing links to the host organisations’ websites for further event and contact details.

The creation of the new online calendar is the latest outcome of a recent review by Tourism Australia looking at ways to improve how Australian tourism product is sold and distributed at home and overseas.

Perth To Go Gaga

It is shaping up as the biggest year of live music in Perth's history.

Following tour announcements already this week from Kanye West and Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga has revealed she will head Down Under in August with her artRAVE, The ARTPOP Ball tour.

The eccentric pop star, right, will open the Australian leg of the tour at Perth Arena on August 20.

Gaga's die-hard fans, known as Little Monsters, have the chance to get up close and personal with the Bad Romance singer if they are willing to spend big.

For $1499, fans can sit inside an on-stage viewing area, known as the ARTPOP Zone, and then have an after-show meet and greet with Gaga in a private lounge area with cocktails and beverages. They will also get a photo with the singer.

Tickets go on sale at noon on Tuesday through Ticketek, starting at $92.65

New Perth Zoo Additions are Otter-ly Cute

New Perth Zoo Additions are Otter-ly Cute

Four new members of the world's smallest otter species – the Asian small-clawed otter – have made their public debut at Perth Zoo.

Perth Zoo Chief Executive Susan Hunt said the tiny pups are part of an Australasian breeding program to help protect a wonderful species that is threatened in the wild.

"The otters at Perth Zoo have now had 16 otter pups which is four litters in the past two years.
"These latest pups are the third litter for parents Asia and Tuan," Ms Hunt said.

Asian small-clawed otters are highly social animals who pair for life. Males play a critical role rearing the pups, including nest building, swimming lessons and supplying food.
Older siblings also take a role in the care of new pups and two older sisters are currently helping rear the new babies.

The four pups were born on December 27 and recently started swimming lessons.

At this age, the pups are being carried out of the nest box and taken into the pool by the adults and then carried back inside again – but they will soon start venturing out by themselves.

The pups lined up for their first medical check on Monday by Perth Zoo veterinary staff to weigh, sex, microchip, vaccinate and examine their general health.

The vets identified two females and two males ranging in size from 520grams to 560grams.

Asian small-clawed otters weigh just 3.5kg when fully grown. They are native to parts of India, southern China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Cricket's Biggest International Prize! One Year to Go Celebrations

14 February 2014 marks one year to go until the first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. To mark the occasion, public events will be held in all 14 World Cup Host Cities over two days.

To mark the occasion, public events will be held in all 14 World Cup Host Cities over two days. The events will include the unveiling of a city countdown clock, multicultural performances and junior cricket activities. Members of the public are welcome to all events.

Thursday 13 February

  

Host City	Event location	Start time
Auckland	Queen’s Wharf	6.30am
Hamilton	Garden Place, Victoria St	7.15am
Dunedin	The Octagon	10.30am
Wellington	Midland Park, Lambton Quay	12.00pm
Napier	Sound Shell, Marine Parade	12.00pm
Nelson	Trafalgar Square	12.00pm
Christchurch	Re:Start Mall, Cashel St	5.00pm

Friday 14 February

  

Host City	Event location	Start time
Sydney	Martin Place Stage	12.00p
Melbourne	Federation Square Stage	12.00pm
Adelaide	Rundle Mall	11.00am
Brisbane	Queen Street Mall Stage	12.45pm
Canberra	Canberra Centre	12.00pm
Hobart	PW1 forecourt (Princes Wharf 1)	12.30pm
Perth	Forrest Place	12.00pm

Also on 14 February, prior to the start of the New Zealand v India test match at the Basin Reserve, a press conference to announce how Government and tournament organisers will work together to maximise the legacy of the tournament.



There will also be a special visit from the members of New Zealand’s 1992 Cricket World Cup squad during the tea break on Day 2 of the test.



Find out more at http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup

Perth Celebrates China Connection with Spectacular Display

Perth has long boasted strong ties with East Asia through trade and a pioneering twinning agreement with Haikou in China’s Hainan province.

The Perthshire Chinese Community Association new year procession through the streets of Perth to mark the start of the Year of the Horse

Perth has long boasted strong ties with East Asia through trade and a pioneering twinning agreement with Haikou in China’s Hainan province.

And on Tuesday staff and pupils from Perth High School immersed themselves in all aspects of Chinese culture when they celebrated Chinese New Year.

Youngsters were joined by Andy Chan, chairman of the Perthshire Chinese Community Association, and Mandarin teacher Yang Jacobsen, for the China Day event which included Chinese cookery, Chopsticks and Paper Cutting, Tai Chi and Chinese Dragon Art workshops.

The Fair City school is widely regarded as a hub for learning about the Chinese language and culture, and is home to what was Scotland’s first Confucious classroom and offers Mandarin as one of its foreign languages.

A spokesperson for the school told the PA: “Perth High School has strong links with the Chinese community and is committed to increasing young people’s knowledge and awareness of Chinese language and culture.”

Meanwhile on Monday Perth and Kinross Provost Liz Grant welcomed in the Chinese New Year with members of the Perthshire Chinese Community Association

The Provost also invited members of the local Chinese community to a civic reception at 2 High Street to mark this Year of the Horse.

Celebrations took take place in Perth city centre starting with a firecracker display at the viewing platform on Tay Street, which lit up the early evening.

This was followed by a spectacular procession which was headed up by two police horses and a Chinese lion dance troop.

The acrobats performed gymnastic poses and tumbles, leading the Provost and community members through Perth High Street, King Edward Street, St John’s Place and St John Street to the Salutation Hotel on South Street to continue the evening’s celebrations.

Also on hand to amaze and entertain was circus-themed entertainment including close-up magical illusions, a stilt walking juggler and a daredevil street show performer who incorporated fire into his act.

Perth International Arts Festival 2014

Perth International Arts Festival 2014 is the longest running and best loved international arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

This year is the 62nd annual Festival. In 2013 Festival shows sold more than $5 million worth of tickets, with attendances of over 500,000 from a city of under 2 million people: we sell more tickets per capita than any international arts festival in Australia.

The 62nd Perth Festival kicks off on Friday, 7 February and runs until 1 March. The diverse program offers a world-class cultural feast for arts lovers of all ages and persuasions. In a quintessentially Western Australian experience, more than 1000 of the world's most exciting contemporary artists transform and disrupt Perth as the Festival spills across unique venues and glorious, outdoor spaces.

Living up to its worldwide reputation for excellence, in 2014 the Festival delivers a program of unforgettable, enriching works, created by artists who are daring, thoughtful, and innovative, with 26 Australian exclusives, 33 Australian premieres and two world premieres.

Perth Festival Artistic Director Jonathan Holloway said: "The 2014 Perth Festival collaborates with the world's greatest artists and many of Western Australia's most creative and talented people to find new and exciting ways to create a Festival in and of Perth. Joining us in our exploration of what it is to be a 21st Century festival in the remotest and yet most connected capital city in the Southern Hemisphere are Robert Wilson, Dawn Upshaw, Martin Amis, The National, William Kentridge, Tod Machover and Public Enemy, to name just 20 of the 1000+ artistic collaborators."

The 2014 Festival explodes in a spectacle of wonder with the Lotterywest Festival Spectacular Veles e Vents, supported by Eventscorp. For three nights over the opening weekend, the Spanish masters of public theatre take to the seas and the sky, recreating a ship's grand and perilous voyage in a sublime visual display of fireworks and light. Suitable for the whole family, the exclusive Australian premiere promises to kick off the 2014 Festival with an explosion of music and movement.

The Festival's free program takes art to the people as the streets of Perth are playfully transformed and life re-imagined. Sam Routledge & Martyn Coutts' I Think I Can brings avatars to life in an enchanted model town. The Lotterywest Festival Celebration, Jeremy Deller's Sacrilege, invites Festival goers to literally leap into ancient history, re-creating Stonehenge as a full-scale bouncy castle.

The Chevron Festival Gardens become the ambient Festival hub as guests gather, discuss and participate, with free entry to the Garden from 5pm until late Wednesday-Saturday and 6.30pm until late Sunday-Tuesday.

The 2014 Theatre and Circus program traverses the spectrum from the gritty to the surreal, inviting the world's most acclaimed performers to the Australian stage. Modern master of the Russian avant-garde, Dmitry Krymov, makes his Australian debut with A Midsummer Night's Dream (As You Like It), a whirling re-imagining of history's first great love story, that of Pyramus and Thisbe. From Israel comes the Australian premiere of Not by Bread Alone: 11 deaf-blind actors take audiences on a profoundly moving journey through their inner world, as bread is kneaded, formed and baked on stage. Raw and explosive, South Africa's Yael Farber adapts Strindberg's classic Miss Julie to post-apartheid South Africa in Mies Julie, revealing theatre at its most potent.

Theatre genius Robert Wilson returns to Perth in the exclusive Australian premiere of Samuel Beckett's blackly comic masterpiece, Krapp's Last Tape. From New York, Perth welcomes An Iliad, superstar Denis O'Hare's riveting one-man performance of Homer's Trojan epic. The UK's internationally renowned NoFit State Circus brings circus as you've never seen it with the Australian premiere of Bianco, a graceful, aerial adventure of drama and breathtaking ability which immerses the audience in the action.

Further highlights include two Festival co-commissions. Malthouse Theatre's The Shadow King is an explosive interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear, melding contemporary Aboriginal storytelling in a blood-soaked interrogation of kinship, land and belonging. Co-commissioned by the Festival, Opus fuses the contemporary circus of Australia's finest, Circa, with dynamic music of Shostakovitch performed by France's Debussy String Quartet.

You Once Said Yes is unforgettable one-on-one theatre. As part of our Vital Stages program, we bring Look Left Look Right together with Western Australian artists to create a thrilling theatrical experience for the people of Perth. One of the most exciting theatre collectives in the world, Germany's Rimini Protokoll presents the Australian exclusive of Situation Rooms. In this multi-dimensional, interactive documentary theatre experience, audiences explore a maze of stories from people whose lives have been touched by the weapons industry. This is theatre like you've never experienced it before.