The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and the Member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek MP, have congratulated tourism businesses on Lord Howe Island for achieving the highest satisfaction ratings from visitors compared with other selected destinations across Australia.
The Visitor Profile and Satisfaction Report from Tourism Research Australia put Lord Howe Island in first place out of 62 destinations across Australia for visitor satisfaction. The reports are being progressively rolled out across Australia. The Lord Howe survey conducted in May and June 2008 stated more than 80 per cent of visitors to Lord Howe Island were very satisfied with their visit.
Visitors were particularly impressed by the friendly, helpful and hospitable staff and friendly locals. They were happy with Lord Howe Island's tourism information services, shopping, food and wine, hotels and motels, roads and tours.
Minister Ferguson said, "This is a great result. Through the Australian Government's National Long-Term Tourism Strategy we are going to continue our marketing campaigns and also work with industry and state and territory governments on supply side issues to deliver even better visitor satisfaction results. That means focussing on product quality and accreditation, building a skilled and innovative workforce, investing in infrastructure, and making the most of our natural competitive advantages such as our landscapes and indigenous and cultural heritage."
Ms Plibersek said, "Customer satisfaction is at the heart of a successful tourism destination. For many communities such as Lord Howe Island, tourism is vital to the local economy. For tourism to succeed it needs not only good service but good local facilities. Last year the Australian Government provided almost $100,000 directly to Lord Howe Island for local community infrastructure including public facilities for tourists."
Minister Ferguson said, "Australians need to be reminded of the beauty of an Australian holiday especially with long weekends coming up. Tourism Australia and the Australian Government's "No Leave No Life" campaign encourages Australians to use their 123 million days of accumulated annual leave worth $33 billion and take a break at home. For Lord Howe Island that could mean a walk along one of the unspoiled, uncrowded beaches, snorkelling at the world's most southerly coral reef, or a guided hike up Mt Gower," he said.
"Tourism is dominated by small businesses - that is why, as part of the economic stimulus, the Australian Government invested more than $500 million in small business incentives and support to help the 93 per cent of tourism businesses in this category."
The Visitor Profile and Satisfaction (VPS) Program is a part of the Destination Visitor Survey Program (DVS) run by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Since 2006 about 70 VPS projects have been completed in Australian regional tourist destinations.
The Visitor Profile and Satisfaction Reports can be obtained at http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/tra/regional/destinations/Pages/default.aspx.