TICNSW Newsletter | May 2011
In This Newsletter:
- New TICNSW Website
- The China Market – More Good News
- Sydney Visitor Information Report
- Nominations are now open for the 2011 NSW Tourism Awards
- Expressions of Interest: 2011 NSW Tourism Awards Judges
- Tourism Labour Force Survey
NEW TICNSW WEBSITE
The Tourism Industry Council NSW (TICNSW) has recently developed a new look and enhanced website:
In building the website the team at TICNSW have discovered better ways to organise information and improve the usability of the site. The team plans to continually evolve and refine the website to better meet the needs of our membership base and help provide information to potential members, building rapport and strengthening industry ties.
The new website includes a range of new features and information relating to tourism including News, Policies and Research, Business Support and details on a range of industry Events.
THE CHINA MARKET – MORE GOOD NEWS
Tourism continues to have a tough time. The strong Aussie dollar off the back of the resources boom continues to make us a more expensive destination to choose for many of our prospective visitors. Ironically however, China through its purchase of a lot of the commodities mined in Australia which has a key role in our strong dollar is also looking like a major provider of tourists in the next decade.
The visit recently to China by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard saw her and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao participate in a ceremony that witnessed a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen Tourism Cooperation between China and Australia.
The full story is on the Tourism Australia website: http://www.tourism.australia.com/
TICNSW Chair Ken Corbett said “After a lifetime in tourism I cannot recall our industry being acknowledged at this level on a bilateral basis before. Heads of Government visits are tightly packed and that Tourism was incorporated into the short China visit of the Prime Minister indicates the Federal Government understands the value China represents to our highly diversified tourism industry.”
This is very good news for NSW. As last month’s newsletter detailed, China was our fourth largest market into Sydney in 2010 with 274,000 visitors (IVS-excludes children under 15).
This leads both Victoria (206,000) and Queensland (188,000). Sydney currently receives 84 flights a week between China and Sydney, shared by 5 airlines (four Chinese carriers and Qantas) totalling 23,000 seats. This will almost certainly rise further as China’s massive population makes many regions capable of supporting an Airline to International destinations.
More details have emerged on the MOU and its focus on extending ADS (approved destination travel) to fully independent travellers (FITs) rather than just groups. This will bring a more affluent Chinese traveller than has generally been found in the groups that ADS was previously restricted to. The MOU also covers the very important expansion of the Education and Corporate Incentive markets.
TICNSW encourages our members to look at how they can participate in the China market.
SYDNEY VISITOR INFORMATION REPORT
Tourism New South Wales and the industry have recognised the need for a more coordinated approach to the provision of visitor information in the Greater Sydney area. Therefore in March 2010 Tourism NSW commenced a review of Visitor Information servicing in Sydney, from a visitors perspective.
The review was conducted jointly with government agencies and representatives from key industry organisations including the Tourism Industry Council NSW (TICNSW). Former TICNSW General Manager, Brian Hardiman and current TICNSW General Manager, Geoff Buckley where amongst the representatives whom convened to provide advice and input into the review.
The aim of the review was to develop recommendations for industry and Government regarding the most efficient and useful ways to deliver visitor information to enhance the visitor experience in Sydney. The review paid particular attention to rapid changes in technology and included the role of Visitor Information Centres, key websites and publications. A similar review for regional NSW is being planned.
To view the Visitor Information Servicing in Sydney Final Report:
http://corporate.tourism.nsw.gov.au/Sites/SiteID6/objLib10/Visitor-Information-in-Sydney-Dec2010.pdf
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE 2011 NSW TOURISM AWARDS
The Tourism Industry Council NSW (TICNSW) has the pleasure in announcing that Nominations are now open for the 2011 NSW Tourism Awards. 2010 was an outstanding success with ten of our New South Wales entrants winning National Awards at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards held in Perth. This result goes to show that the products we have in our state are the best and can hold their own with tourism businesses around the country. We would like to improve on that outcome this year, a challenge we know, but we are positive the calibre of entrants this year will be even higher. We have a new management team on board, Fourth Wall Events and they will bring a new focus and energy to the Awards Program and the Award Ceremony and Dinner to be held on 17 November 2011 in the CBD.
Entry to the 2011 NSW Tourism Awards is open to all New South Wales tourism operators and offers entrants recognition for outstanding achievements, an increased business profile and valuable networking opportunities. These awards recognise the value of both big operations, smaller businesses and the overall importance of the tourism industry to the New South Wales economy.
The Awards are a submission and inspection based program and provide the opportunity to publicly recognise and showcase the State’s finest tourism operators. The Awards have 30 categories across the industry spectrum.
Throughout the entry process we are here to assist you. We are pleased to offer you direct access to experienced industry mentors for 1 on 1 guidance, full day entrant workshops in Sydney and a step by step DVD to assist you in the submission process.
Important Dates for your diary:
- Award Entry Workshop – Wednesday 15 June 2011
- Closing date for nominations and entry fee – Monday 25 July 2011
- Site inspections – July through to September 2011
- Closing date for submissions – Tuesday 30 August 2011
- Judging of submissions –September 2011
- Awards Ceremony and Dinner– Thursday 17 November 2011
For further information and advice go to:
www.nswtourismawards.com.au
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: 2011 NSW TOURISM AWARDS JUDGES
Expressions of interest are being taken for individuals interested in joining the panel of judges for the 2011 NSW Tourism Awards. Individuals must have a background in tourism or a tourism related field and be available for online judging between 5-16 September (10-15 hour commitment over this period), and for one full day in Sydney on Tuesday 27 September 2011.
Please note that all judges must sign a strict confidentiality and conflict of interest form, therefore no individual can be a part of the judging process if the business they are directly involved in enters the NSW Tourism Awards.
Expressions of interest are open until Friday 27 May 2011.
Any interested party should contact Tourism Industry Council NSW on 02 9267 6865 or email admin@ticnsw.com.au
TOURISM LABOUR FORCE SURVEY
Tourism Industry Council (TICNSW) encourages the industry to get involved and have your say in the future of tourism and hospitality labour and skills by undertaking a nation-wide survey of tourism and hospitality businesses.
Deloitte Access Economics is undertaking this study on behalf of the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) reviewing workforce shortages within Australia’s tourism and hospitality industries by specifically looking at the difficulties in finding and retain quality workers.
The research from the survey will:
- Identify current levels of tourism and hospitality employment;
- Project skills and labour needs by occupation and volume;
- Tally expected local labour supply and shortages by tourism region and occupation.
This survey is an initiative of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy. Under the Strategy, the Labour and Skills Working Group (Working Group) was formed to improve the industry’s ability to attract and retain labour through better workforce planning, innovative recruitment initiatives and improved training and career opportunities. The results will also be used to inform the Working Group’s two year forward work program.
Difficulties in finding and keeping workers have been an issue for the industry for a number of years and this survey represents a great opportunity for businesses to demonstrate the severity of these shortages to government policymakers.
The survey can be accessed at www.tourism.gov.au/survey
For more information please visit the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) website at http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/Pages/Tourism.aspx
If you have any questions, please direct these to Deloitte Access Economics: tourism.survey@acesseconmics.com.au.
UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
MONDAY 6 JUNE- Business Events Sydney- “Building a Global City through Business Events”, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre www.businesseventssydney.com.au
THURSDAY 28 JULY – 2011 Greater Sydney Tourism Awards http://awards.sydneywidetourism.com.au
SATURDAY 30 JULY – 2011 CountryLink Inland Tourism Awards www.inlandtourismawards.com.au
TUESDAY 5 AUGUST – Blue Mountains, Lithgow and Oberon Tourism Awards of Excellence 2011 www.visitbluemountains.com.au
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST – 2011 Hunter & Central Coast Awards for Excellencewww.tourismhunter.com.au
WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST – 2011 South Coast Tourism Awards
http://corporate.southcoast.net.au/category/tourism-awards
SATURDAY 27 AUGUST – 2011 CountryLink North Coast Tourism Awards
http://www.midnorthcoasttourism.com.au/tourism-awards
THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER – 2011 NSW Tourism Awards www.nswtourismawards.com.au)
