Travellers will be able to easily recognise quality Australian tourism experiences with a new national symbol – the T-QUAL Tick – launched today by the Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP.
“Australia is a world-class tourism destination and we want to build on our reputation by ensuring Australia’s 226 million domestic and international travellers have the best possible travel experience by knowing which accommodation, attractions and/or dining options have been through the rigorous, truly national accreditation process to receive the T-QUAL Tick,” Minister Ferguson said.
“The T-QUAL tick is a mark of quality which will become easily recognisable whether it is on a tourist park in Tasmania, a five-star hotel in Sydney, a restaurant in far north Queensland, a hostel in Broome or any number of other tourism products and services.
“Last year, almost half of Australia’s international visitors and a quarter of our domestic overnight visitors used the internet to book travel. That’s why we are incorporating the T-QUAL Tick into TripAdvisor.
“TripAdvisor is the world’s largest universal travel site, used by 44 million consumers globally to plan and book travel. The development of a T-QUAL micro site housed within TripAdvisor’s Australian site is the first of its kind between the travel site and a tourism quality assurance program.
“The T-QUAL Tick is about differentiating tourism products and services on the basis of quality. T-QUAL businesses have all the required licences and insurances and have committed to a number of standards including risk and environmental management and customer service.
“The T-QUAL Tick gives consumers the choice to book accredited over non-accredited products at every price point in the market. That can mean backpacker accommodation through to luxury cruising or a boutique tour.”
Currently, there are 12,500 Australian tourism products with T-QUAL Accreditation via seven Accreditation programs. More tourism accreditation programs are expected to receive the T-QUAL Tick by the Tourism Quality Council of Australia in the coming months.
More information on T-QUAL Accreditation is at www.ret.gov.au/tqual