Tourism Australia needs cultural and operational change, says review
MELBOURNE – The Jackson review into Australia’s tourism marketing performance landed with a thud at Australian Tourism Exchange in Melbourne yesterday.
Its key recommendation is that Tourism Australia must work with Austrade to attract international investment, protect an A$22 billion industry and save 100,000 jobs.
Former Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson’s report warned Tourism Australia it needs a “substantial cultural and operational shift†if the industry is to survive the next 20 years.
It said: “If Australia does not make the necessary changes, between now and 2030 we risk forgoing 3.6 million international visitors, $22bn of tourism’s contribution to gross domestic product and as many as 100,000 tourism jobs. This cannot be allowed to happen.â€
The report calls for the organisation to be revamped so it is not only responsible for selling Australia as a destination, but to work closely with Austrade to stimulate international investment in the industry and infrastructure.
Chris Brown, managing director of lobby group Tourism and Transport Forum and a member of the Jackson committee, quoted by The Australian, said action was urgently needed, with tourism numbers in freefall since 2001.
“With the global financial crisis, coupled with the outbreak of swine flu, the tourism industry is in a deep hole,” Brown said.
“Tourism unemployment figures in Cairns have shot up to 13 per cent ever since the Japanese tourists stopped visiting northern Queensland.
“We’ve got to stop the rot in tourism or it will wither and die. We are calling for a fundamental recasting of TA’s role.
“The industry is demanding some leadership from Canberra,” Brown said.
Tourism Australia has yet to announce a replacement for outgoing chief executive Geoff Buckley, who leaves at the end of June.
Ian Jarrett
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