Industry welcomes government tourism strategy
SYDNEY – The federal government’s National Long-term Tourism Strategy for Australia “rightly recognises the importance of the $89 billion tourism industry to the national economy, as an employer and as an exporter, peak bodyâ€, the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) said today.
TTF executive director, Brett Gale, said the strategy had started to address some of the industry’s major obstacles including planning and approval, tourism infrastructure development, labour supply and skills and research.
“The government has undertaken a mammoth task to deliver this strategy which helps lay the foundations for a sustainable tourism industry, but we now need to quickly turn the words into action,†Gale said.
“Unlike previous attempts, the strategy can’t be left to collect dust, nor can it get bogged down in bureaucracy.â€
Gale said the strategy would need a coordinated industry/government approach.
“Despite the complexity of some of the issues the strategy attempts to address, we need to ensure the working groups responsible for driving the strategy have widespread industry representation and are agile, flexible and able to action the recommendations quickly.â€
Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) managing director, Matthew Hingerty said, “For decades the industry has craved the recognition in government that its statistics demand – $88 billion in consumption, $25 billion in export earnings and nearly 500,00 in direct employment.
“However it has always seemed to us that we were a poor cousin of mining, manufacturing and agriculture when it came to government attention.â€
Hingerty said some of the pressing challenges the industry faced were competition, productivity, quality control, research and development and labour.
“The landscape for the tourism industry has changed dramatically in the last ten years.
“Global competition is intense and the consumer is now in the driving seat. Customers have access to social networking and therefore instant broadcasting of their experiences and no country can afford to serve up sub-standard fare,†Hingerty added.
Ian Jarrett
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