Public Sector tourism benefit recognition failure continues!
The ACT is dumping its Tourism Board, the hatchet man is chopping away at South Australia and New South Wales continues to wrangle about whether they have cut their budgets or not, with TTF CEO Chris Brown confirming to The Mole yesterday that they had.
All this demonstrating the public sector in many parts of Australia’s ongoing failure to recognise the real economic benefits of tourism.
Now, even at local Council level the economic benefit of tourism is also failing to be recognised with Naracoorte Lucindale council having dumped the region’s tourism officer position, despite strong public opposition to the move.
About an hour was spent debating the issue at a meeting held before the adoption of the council’s new financial year budget earlier this week, with the council voting not to remove a motion to make the position redundant.
Chief Executive Officer Dennis Hovenden says the council realises some community members will not take kindly to the decision adding, “I think we need to move forward, we need to clearly state to the community we are not abandoning tourism, we seek to do it in a better manner and those people that were vocal in support of tourism, the invitation is there for them to meet with council to be further briefed on the new direction, the new way forward”.
Tourism is the single most important economic driver in many rural communities, but all too frequently as in this case, the slightest budget crisis results in tourism being the first “industry” to get the chop.
Report by The Mole.
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