In this Newsletter:

• TICNSW Extraordinary General Meeting
• TICNSW welcomes new EO- Andrew Jefferies
• Small Business, the heart of NSW Tourism.

TICNSW EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

Tourism Industry Council NSW held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday 21 July. The EGM was called to obtain member approval for a number of proposed changes to the TICNSW Objects and Rules (Articles of Association) after a thorough review of the current membership structure.

As proposed and formally agreed upon at the EGM, the TICNSW Membership structure henceforth encompasses:

• Industry Associations – Association represent individual industry operators/organisations in a particular tourism sector;
• Tourism Destination Organisations- Organisations such as Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) or Local Tourism Organisations (LTOs);
• Corporate Members- Other businesses and organisations with tourism interests in NSW

Additionally there is a new Life Member  category of membership.

With such clear differences in the memberships groups it was agreed to establish sub group committees that will drive the working agenda within TICNSW for those members and provide input into broader Council policy and plans.

Each of the membership groups are structured into tiers with the votes and fees weighted by the size of the organisation, these are as follows (inc. GST):

Industry Associations 

• Gold: $6,600 [3 votes]
• Silver: $3,850 [2 votes]
• Bronze: $1,925 [1 vote]

 Tourism Destination Organisations 

• Gold: $1,650 [3 votes]
• Silver: $825 [2 votes]

 Corporate Members 

• Gold: $5,500 [3 votes]
• Silver: $3,800 [2 votes]
• Bronze: $1,650 [1 vote]
• Member: $605 [1 vote]

TICNSW WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER – ANDREW JEFFERIES

The Tourism Industry Council NSW welcomed its new Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies to the Council on Monday August 1^st.

Andrew joins TICNSW with past experience in both the Tourism and Government sectors. For the past four years, Andrew has been employed as an Advisor to two Federal Members of Parliament, including the former Prime Minister, John Howard. Prior to this, he spent ten years of employment within the Airline & Tourism sectors, most recently as a Commercial Analyst for Qantas Business Travel.

In addition, he currently serves as an elected Councillor for The Hills Shire Council’s East Ward in North Western Sydney. Andrew has a close working relationship with many of the Ministers and Members of the new O’Farrell Government and is keen to broaden the relationship and promote the interests of the Council’s membership with Government in New South Wales.

TICNSW welcomes Andrew to the role of Executive Officer and look forward to his contributions to the Council.

 SMALL BUSINESS, THE HEART OF NSW TOURISM

I recently spent a few days in Tumbarumba, Southern NSW in the school holidays. My wife’s family has business interests there and we travel down there around once a year. Being July holidays we also took in a little skiing at the nearby Mount Selwyn Ski fields.

I am always in search of a good coffee. Now for those of us who spend a fair bit of time in the CBD, the TICNSW offices have a coffee outlet available every 20 meters (or less) for several blocks around. A number of these provide really good coffee. I have been to Tumba (as the locals call it) a number of times and have to say I have never had a really good coffee. On arrival I see a standalone building off the main shopping area called “Nest” promoting a mix of café, bookstore and cinema. So first chance, off we went. Now the good news is, yes, really good coffee but the unusual nature of the building intrigued me and I started chatting to the owner/operator, Laura Smit. The building is the original Masonic Hall and was converted into a Cinema a number of years ago. Tumbarumba is not a town to easily support a Cinema and although it also operated as a café, the business was open for irregular hours and the original owner sold it two years ago to Laura. Laura added the bookstore element rejuvenated the café and now runs for set hours. The interesting element in talking to Laura is that 2 years ago she took her “tree change” and moved to Tumba from Sydney inner city Leichhardt, this helps explain the good coffee.

This illustrates to me two key features of country NSW. The first is the constant regeneration of buildings; this old Masonic Hall is now a vibrant location useful to both locals and visitors. The second is the obvious passion and effort that go into small businesses. “Nest” is illustrative of what occurs throughout the State and is particularly evident in regional locations. Laura is active with the Tumbarumba Tourist Association and is part of a really terrific article in the current REX in-flight magazine, on Tumbarumba. To read the complete article click here

 Laura also mentioned that Sydney Weekender was filming in Tumbarumba in a couple of weeks. Tumbarumba has a good mix of business to underpin the economy, Fruit growing– particularly apples in nearby Batlow with grapes/ wine harvests now becoming major economic generators. Sheep and beef farming are strong in these fertile fields of the western Snowy Mountains. Additionally timber milling is also strong. Tumbarumba could not be described as a major tourist destination but like so many of our inland towns regular visitors help keep small businesses cash flow going and provide that human contact that makes travelling around regional NSW so rewarding.

 Most small tourism businesses do not belong directly to the Tourism Industry Council NSW, although we do welcome these members. Most small businesses engaged in Tourism belong through theIR local Tourist Associations, RTO’s and the sector Associations, like Restaurant and Catering, Accommodation Association of Australia and the AHA. These are all represented by us to the highest level of Government. The Council takes it representation of the many hard working small business owner/operators very seriously as they do indeed form the heart of the visitor industry in this great State.