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Introduction
Good morning and welcome to the Chairman of Tourism Australia Mr Geoff Dixon, Chairman of the Tourism Quality Council of Australia- Mr Simon Currant, Tourism Australia Managing Director- Andrew McEvoy, ladies and gentlemen.
It is with great pleasure that I’m here today to launch the consumer marketing of the T-QUAL Tick and discuss the future of our tourism industry with you.
Today’s launch notches up another milestone of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.
And it is an opportunity to reflect on progress under the Strategy and our need to update and sharpen our focus through to 2020.
T-QUAL Tick
Today marks the next major step in the T-QUAL Accreditation journey – one that industry and Governments have aspired to since well before the 2004 White Paper on Tourism.
From today, travellers will be able to easily recognise quality Australian tourism products and services with a national symbol – the T-QUAL Tick.
Today is a victory for the successful partnership between Australia’s $34 billion tourism industry and the Australian Government working with our State and Territory colleagues.
The T-QUAL Tick is a victory for the 12,500 tourism businesses who are covered under the existing seven accreditation programs so far and the many thousands of additional businesses due to come on stream.
The T-QUAL Tick is a victory for our 226 million international and domestic visitors.
Visitors who want assurance that a night in a tourist park in Tasmania; a room in a five-star hotel in Sydney; a meal at a restaurant in far north Queensland, or tour to an attraction in Broome or any other product or service has met an industry standard of quality.
T-QUAL Tick provides that assurance.
It aims to give travellers some certainty that when they book a T-QUAL Accredited product that it will meet, or better yet exceed their expectations.
In 2010, 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 introducing a major boost to the program.
The T-QUAL Tick will be incorporated into TripAdvisor which is used by 44 million consumers globally to research and plan holidays.
TripAdvisor’s user reviews with T-QUAL endorsement will make it easier for consumers to find quality tourism products.
The T-QUAL Tick is one of a number of ways to boost the quality and competitiveness of Australia’s tourism industry.
Through the Strategy we need to continue our work on supply-side issues to ensure consumer expectations are met.
Tourism 2020
Two years ago we launched the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy to boost the growth, competitiveness and resilience of Australia’s tourism industry.
Much has happened since December 2009 when I launched the Strategy:
- Competition from overseas markets has further increased;
- The Australian dollar and oil prices have remained persistently high;
- Economic woes in key markets in Europe and the US have worsened; and
- Natural disasters in Japan, floods in Queensland and Victoria, disruptions to aviation from the Chilean ash cloud and Qantas grounding have all created immense challenges for the industry.
We’ve seen record-high visitor numbers from Asia.
In the year ending June this year, visitors from China were up 26 per cent, Malaysia up 14 per cent and Indonesia up 13 per cent.
And we launched the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential last year with the target of doubling overnight spending to $140 billion by 2020.
Over the last two years the Strategy has delivered a number of significant outcomes. To name just a few:
- The Tourism e-kit to help tourism businesses get online;
- The expansion of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme to Broome;
- Eight projects to address labour and skills gaps across the country;
- The National Tourism Planning Guide;
- The National Tourism Incident Communication Plan which successfully swung into action in response to the Qantas grounding and as recently as last week with the Margaret River Bushfires;
- The National Online Strategy for Tourism;
- Delivery of two Directions Conferences and State of the Industry reports;
- Agreement by the States to prioritise tourism planning and regulatory reforms to remove investment barriers;
- An increase in aviation capacity from Asia helping deliver an increase in capacity entitlements of 165 per cent from China and 130 per cent from Indonesia;
- 187 T-QUAL grants, valued at almost $17 million, to tourism businesses, local councils and Regional Tourism Organisations to improve supply and quality of tourist facilities; and
- Enterprise Connect has been extended to tourism businesses to provide free business advice.
Importantly, the Strategy has provided a base of research and evidence to inform policy decisions.
From the largest labour force survey ever conducted in the tourism sector to the detailed report on investment and regulatory barriers and the multitude of Tourism Research Australia reports – they all owe their existence, in part, to the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.
During this past October, the Prime Minister announced that we would be updating this Strategy by the end of the year.
Today I am releasing the updated Strategy titled Tourism 2020.
Tourism 2020 builds on our research and achievements and aligns the Strategy’s practical measures directly to the 2020 Potential.
Tourism 2020 identifies and focuses on six key strategic areas aimed at increasing the industry's competitiveness.
It focuses on growth from Asia, building online capacity, increasing skills, labour and Indigenous participation and regulatory reform to encourage investment.
Continuing to build on our reforms in industry resilience and quality while lifting transport access is very important.
I want to see practical on-the-ground outcomes rolling out in these areas – and they will.
How successfully we grow demand from Asia will shape the tourism industry in coming years.
The Government has recently announced a policy White Paper in Australia’s role in this ‘Asian Century’.
The tourism industry must be positioned to seize the opportunities that will arise from the growing Asian market.
As the middle class grows in countries such as China and India and these people look to travel internationally in a highly competitive tourism market the Australian tourism industry must be well positioned to meet the demands of these consumers.
Tourism 2020 also addresses industry views by:
- Increasing industry participation through defining actions for industry (and not just Government) to progress;
- Having clearer reporting and better defined KPIs to illustrate progress; and
- Having more regular and more effective communication with stakeholders.
There will be Tourism 2020 updates on websites, industry newsletters and a revamped Resources, Energy and Tourism Department website.
Industry can expect more face-to-face Tourism 2020 briefings through TA Market Updates and publication of regular working group update reports.
While these changes are important, what is also important to note is what has not changed – a partnership between all levels of Government and industry to address supply side issues remains at the core of Tourism 2020 just as it has under the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.
Every tourism minister across Australia has been consulted on this plan, and every tourism business stands to gain from it.
An industry that contributes $34 billion to our GDP and directly and indirectly employs almost 900,000 people deserves nothing less.
The obstacles ahead remain challenging – fierce competition from overseas, a strong Australian dollar, lagging investment and a lack of skilled workers in some regions of the country.
The hard work by industry and Government working together to deliver the T-QUAL Tick today is a good example of the sorts of outcomes we can achieve from a successful Strategy.
The National Long-Term Tourism Strategy was always going to be a journey, and the foundation phase has been important to gather evidence needed to take us forward.
I invite all of you to join us for the next step of our journey together.
Thank you