From the President

ACCOMMODATION MEMBERS NEED TARGETTED INVESTMENT IN TOURISM MARKETING

DAVID BASHEER

WATCH VIDEO: https://youtu.be/RaeGlLWBq6g

Many of our members, both metropolitan and regional, rely heavily on tourism and the growth of our visitor economy.

The cavalcade of upcoming events is exciting, and we are grateful to the Malinauskas government for its success on this front.

However, the reality is that during the week, it is conferencing and conventions that fill our rooms, and then our bars and restaurants. With the work-from-home trend, this is especially true.

Pre-Covid, our visitor economy peaked at $8.1 billion, before halving during the pandemic. By the end of last year it had bounced back to $7.2b and the State Government has an ambitious target of achieving $12.8b by 2030.

While interstate and intrastate visitation is booming, the gap still remains with overseas visitation.

Our members that have invested in accommodation desperately need these numbers to grow. In the past seven years, 3,765 new rooms have opened and for the first time, Adelaide has over 10,000 beds.

Beyond that, 20 new hotels have been announced for the regions, along with 12 more in the CBD and another eight in metropolitan Adelaide.

Whilst the $2 billion in investment is welcome, the extra 1,188 rooms proposed on top of those already opened means the State budgets must include growth. Not just in event and conference incentives, but broader tourism marketing.

SUBMISSION TO HELP FIX THE JOBS CRISIS

Sitting alongside that issue are the ongoing labour force issues. Our borders are reopening and we are seeing the return of international students and backpackers, but the pace of the return remains a frustration.

A survey last year revealed that hospitality is the second-worst affected sector, after health.

There are 183,000 students with visas who have not returned to Australia and another 77,000 people with working holiday visas still overseas.

It is essential that semi-skilled and unskilled labour does not have its path to our employment blocked by rigid migration and visa laws. Our time is NOW, not when the bureaucracy decides to expand programmes to meet our needs. A wholesale review of the immigration and visa system is currently underway. A joint submission from AHA, TAA and AAoA has been lodged. Highlights of our submission include:

• Currently, we can only sponsor key roles such as cooks and managers for two years. Increasing this to four years would provide a pathway to permanent residency, giving us the opportunity to retain international talent.

• Highly-sought-after, experienced chefs are too often denied access to permanent residency due to being aged over 45. Increasing this age barrier, if only in the short term, would be an important win.

• The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) currently has a minimum income threshold of $53,900 per year. The ACTU is calling for the threshold to be increased to $90,917 – which would freeze many of our members out of that scheme. We are arguing for an increase to the threshold to be limited to a CPI increase.

• International students working in hospitality should be permitted to continue to work up to 30 hours per week until 30 June 2024.

• A review should be undertaken as soon as possible to ensure the 2023/24 migration program and skills list are responsive to our labour needs.

• The Skilling Australians Fund levy should be halved to $600 per year for small business, and $900 for large business, for each sponsored temporary migrant.

• The Skilling Australians Fund levy should be refunded in all cases where a skilled migration application is not successful.

• That the permanent skilled migration cap is increased to 210,000 and the distribution between skilled and family migrants be restored to 2/3 to 1/3 labour force to address seasonality, regional workforce requirements and the flexible working hours required for industry.

To this end, promotional funding is required to attract Working Holidaymakers back to our shores. Beyond that, clearly housing is a key barrier. You can’t bring workers into your region if they have nowhere to stay. Airbnb has ‘helpfully’ suggested a bed tax could fix the problem of affordable housing.

Obviously, the AHA will oppose with rigour any such proposal.

It was refreshing to hear the SA Premier, Peter Malinauskas, articulate the need for semi-skilled labour, as well as skilled migration. That has never been more true and it’s good to have the Premier ‘in our corner’ on this issue. I firmly believe that we are facing a jobs crisis, not a skills crisis as many call it.

LIGC DOES US PROUD

What a fantastic effort by the Liquor Industry Golf Club in raising over $90,000 at their annual charity day at Grange Golf Club last month. The event has been a treasured day on our industry’s calendar since the early 1960s, and its growth has been remarkable.

288 golfers participated, assisted by over 30 volunteers. And of course, our suppliers ensured no one went hungry - or thirsty!

AHA|SA corporate partner Bank SA is the event’s major sponsor. Funds are distributed to a wide variety of needy and appreciative children’s charities.

Well done to Rob Gillies, Robbi Timms and the committee on their enormous work on a day that does our industry proud.

AHA | SA CEO SEARCH

We are well into the search for the next CEO of the AHA|SA. Applications closed on 24 February and we have been extremely buoyed by the high quality of applicants drawn not just from local and interstate markets, but also overseas.

Currently, candidates are being interviewed by our external recruiter before the shortlist is presented to our Executive Council for final consideration.

We are hopeful of finalising the successful candidate in April.