ATEC Voice: New government, new agenda, new industry

New government, new agenda, new industry

A lot has changed for the tourism industry over the past two years. We have gone from the heights of more than 8 million international visitors back in 2019, to now slowly clawing back our market share.

Our industry has been put on hold with many businesses unable to survive and as we begin to re-emerge the world is looking very diff erent, with diff erent challenges, restrictions, and expectations. It is therefore important that we are ready to take on this challenge as a new industry, with new off erings, new ways of operating and new ideas. It's doubtful that we will be the same industry that we were back in 2019, but this forced ‘ground zero’ restart gives us some clear opportunities. Businesses have had the time to reassess and refocus and launch afresh with a contemporary product off ering. As an industry we’ve been forced to reconsider what we want to achieve for our business, our community and our economy as some of our previously fastgrowing markets have dried up and new markets reveal themselves.

As my team and I meet with ATEC member businesses around the country, there is a defi nite feeling of optimism for the future of the industry and our collective ability in partnership with the industry’s demand driving agencies, to return brand Australia to the top of the pile of favoured international destinations. But while the enthusiasm to succeed is there, we have a genuine risk of creating a highly desirable destination which struggles to deliver on its promise. To succeed we need to rid ourselves of unnecessary barriers, the things that are working against us in achieving our stride and delivering on the promise. Many of these are things that as an industry we must solve, some are uncontrollable global pressures while others are in the hands of our Federal Government.

Along with the rest of the economy, the tourism industry is facing severe staff shortages which, for an industry based on service, is a dire problem. We’ve all heard of the problems in the airport and passport systems, and these extend to the speed and effi ciency with which our prospective visitors are able to get their required visas.

Peter Shelley

Managing Director, Australian Tourism Export Council

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So, what does the industry need to succeed?

First, we need to reskill ourselves and rebuild the bedrock of the industry, our staff who deliver quality experiences. Given the skills shortage is much bigger than the tourism industry, we need solid, economy wide leadership focused on fi nding ways to att ract additional staff and we welcome the Albanese Government’s plans for a jobs summit in coming months. Secondly, we need to remove the bureaucratic barriers which make us less desirable. Things like our slow visa approval system which has seen some of our in-market trade partners remove Australia from their holiday destination off ering. Once again this requires the powers of our new Government to act now in support of our industry. Thirdly, aft er more than two years without revenue, businesses need support to get back out there in the marketplace and show their product to the world. More specifi cally, we need the Albanese government to give tourism exporters a fresh start with the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG), this would be a true investment in the future, and an investment with a proven record of success. Finally, our businesses need to recalibrate their sales focus, and this means reviewing who they market to and where the new opportunities lie, what they sell, how they service their various markets and what those markets expect. This one is for our industry which must invest in building their own capacity and adaptability to the new world of export tourism, to actively diversify and reduce dependency on any one market. As the industry moves forward, ATEC has worked hard to develop tools to support the industry restart including undertaking an extensive review and rewrite of our ‘Tourism Trade Toolkit’. For a long time, this has been a valuable resource for those tourism businesses looking to enter the export market. This resource adds to our series of ‘Market Host’ programs which take businesses on a deep dive into diff erent markets, their needs and expectations, and we will this year be celebrating 50 years of our industry coming together under the ATEC banner when we host our fi rst postCOVID business to business Meeting Place event in Cairns. We are proud to be celebrating 50 years servicing this industry, one that is built on great people, great products, and a dedication to excellence. The future may be very diff erent, but together, our industry is there to meet the challenge.