TICNSW Newsletter | November 2011
In this Issue:
- Congratulations to our 2011 NSW Tourism Awards Winners
- Garden Island cruise ship access
- Key Issues Paper – Regional NSW Tourism
- Industry views and ideas wanted for the NSW Visitor Economy Taskforce
- TICNSW welcomes our new Members
- From the Chairman
- Virgin Australia Cabin Crew announcement welcomed by NSW Tourism Minister
- QANTAS Update
Congratulations to our 2011 NSW Tourism Award Winners
Recognising 30 categories of tourism operators from NSW’s exciting tourism industry, the winners were judged from hundreds of entries covering restaurant and catering services, accommodation, tourism education and training, heritage and cultural tourism, festivals and events.
Now in its 22nd year, the NSW Tourism Awards managed by Tourism Industry Council NSW supports the development of the tourism industry which contributes $28.7 billion per year to the NSW economy.
Click here to read more and for a full List of Winners
Industry views and ideas wanted for the NSW Visitor Economy Taskforce
Visitor Economy Taskforce submissions close 30 November 2011
Online comments and formal submissions close on Wednesday 30 November 2011.
Formal submissions can be uploaded onto the website or emailed to visitoreconomy@business.nsw.gov.au
QANTAS Update
The grounding of all mainline QANTAS flights on Saturday 29 October was the biggest news to hit the tourism industry since the collapse of Ansett Australia more than ten years ago.
Despite the ongoing “slow bake” approach of strikes, rolling stoppages and the spectre of Christmas holiday disputation, the industry, the Federal Government and the nation at large was taken by surprise with the grounding and subsequent request for intervention by Fair Work Australia to terminate future industrial action by the AIPA, ALAEA and TWU.
It was clear from the outset that QANTAS CEO, Alan Joyce, had rightly or wrongly, charted a course that would have short term and long term ramifications for the tourism industry. Whilst the decision to ground the fleet and inconvenience tens of thousands of customers was a painful one, it appears to have had the desired effect of bringing some certainty for the industry and wider economy without the fear of an imminent grounding or industrial action.
In the early hours of Monday 31 October, Fair Work Australia terminated all protected industrial action by QANTAS and the unions (the Australian International Pilots Association (AIPA), Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU). With parties unable to reach an agreement in a 21 day negotiation period throughout November, the dispute is now headed for arbitration through Fair Work Australia, without the threat of future industrial action by these three trade unions.
Please click here to read our media release
From Rainman to liberalisation and product innovation | Why our industry needs QANTAS to change
Who remembers Raymond Babbitt? The fictional, autistic character played by Dustin Hoffman in the 1988 movie, Rainman, who uttered those famous words “Qantas never crashed”?
Well, 1988 is a world away for most of us. It was an era of protectionism for Qantas from foreign owned competition, 100% Government ownership when the company had a market share of more than 40% of traffic in and out of Australia. Taxpayers funds through co-operative marketing campaigns via Tourism Australia effectively flowed to Qantas in its entirety. It was an era that our national carrier could effectively argue a price premium on the cost of a ticket when compared with other airlines, particularly US carriers, who had suffered a number of tragic accidents throughout that decade after the commencement of deregulation.
A recent survey conducted by multinational aviation IT and telecommunication provider SITA, confirms that safety is not the first consideration for today’s airline passengers, with 73% only caring about the price of the ticket as a first priority. New technologies and tighter safety regulations across the world have delivered a massive decrease in airline accidents and in the minds of many, there is no difference in the safety levels from one airline to another.
Today, Qantas is fully privatised and exposed to the market realities of competition from a mix low cost carriers, subsidised Government run airlines from city/nation states that sit within just a few hours flying time of two fifths of the world’s population base and now, for the first time in ten years, a competitor in the domestic market offering a business class and full service offering with a lower cost base and employing just 20% of its staff numbers. It is easy to see why Qantas needs to continue to change and adapt. Qantas now has a market share of just under 18% of all international traffic. Whilst it has managed to siphon off some of its formerly unprofitable international network to low cost subsidiary Jetstar, the total combined group figure is still less than 25%. The problem for Qantas is that almost all of its competitors operate with a lower cost base and have successfully eaten away at its market share for the last two decades on the back of open skies and free trade agreements, new product innovation and larger, more extensive networks.
With all this in mind, how does a legacy carrier, not too far away from its 100th year of operation compete with the likes of Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates or China Southern with intransigent union leaders threatening industrial action with seemingly no interest or desire to fairly negotiate? One option would simply be to give in to this “death by a thousand cuts” approach that diminishes the brand slowly over time, adding to travel uncertainty whilst continuing to blow out the cost base. Or, the company could use the industrial legislation, put in place by the current Government to try and put an end to the rolling stoppages and threats to disrupt Christmas Holiday travel plans. Remember, that Fair Work Australia was enacted under Kevin Rudd’s leadership in response to the former Howard Government’s controversial Work Choices agenda. That Alan Joyce felt forced to ground the Qantas fleet and seek a ruling from Fair Work Australia to gain some certainty for the tourism industry and put an end to industrial action is clearly an indictment on the leadership of this Federal Government.
The question that is foremost in my mind, does our industry need Qantas as an inbound international carrier if it can profitably operate in the domestic market with well resourced regional arm, a strong low cost carrier component, an extensive and successful Frequent Flyer program with simply few niche international routes of profitable flying? A similar model to the Virgin Australia of today?
The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Our industry does need a strong and financially viable carrier with a large and competitive international network that draws upon greater access to the world’s population base. It does need a carrier with stronger regional hubs in cities such as Singapore and access to the future inbound goliath that is China. A carrier with a high standard of service, product innovation, new long haul aircraft and one that is fully engaged with all its industry stakeholders to boost tourism and grow visitor arrivals. This might mean a new regional based carrier or an extension to Jetstar’s operations. In whichever form, our industry needs Qantas to change so it, too, can move with the times. A stronger Qantas at the international level will lead to greater inbound tourist arrivals, leading to more events, more hotel stays, a wider dispersal of tourists to our regions and all those items that help sustain the visitor economy.
Whilst the words of Raymond Babbitt were famous and memorable in the 1980’s, we need a profitable and successful Qantas to be around for its 100th Birthday in 2020 and beyond.
TICNSW Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies was a former commercial analyst with Qantas and a staff member to former Prime Minister John Howard.
Garden Island Cruise Ship Access
The Tourism Industry Council NSW has recently provided its submission to the Federal Government Independent Review of Enhanced Cruise Ship Access into Sydney’s Garden Island Naval Dockyard.
With the undeniable growth of cruising at a historic level and trajectory, the Council believes that it is imperative that Sydney is able to capitalise upon this growth and be in a strong position to cater for additional demand over the next decade.
It is clear that with the advent of the new breed mega liners that grace the world’s oceans, 85% of which are unable to fit under the deck of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that Sydney desperately needs a new cruise ship terminal facility east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Garden Island.
Key Issues Paper | Regional NSW Tourism
The Tourism Industry Council NSW has put together a key issues paper for input into the NSW Government’s Visitor Economy Taskforce.
The ideas and suggestions of the key issues paper flows from a Regional Tourism workshop held to discuss and debate the structure and funding arrangements for regional tourism into the future.
We hope that the key issues paper encourages and enhances debate around the organisational structure of regional tourism and will be used as a basis for ongoing change.
Virgin Australia Cabin Crew announcement welcomed by NSW Tourism Minister
Virgin Australia’s commitment to the creation of up to 250 Sydney based cabin crew and supervisory positions has been welcomed by the New South Wales Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Hospitality, Racing and the Arts, The Hon George Souris MP.
“The choice of Sydney for these extra positions makes good sense given Sydney Airport is at the heart of the Australian air transportation industry and is the nation’s busiest airport.” Mr. Souris said.
“Over 35 Million domestic and international passengers travelled through Sydney Airport each year. These new jobs for Sydney represent great news for NSW.” said the Minister.
Virgin Australia’s announcement comes hot on the heels of several major announcements and network changes including ACCC approval for alliances with Singapore Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the introduction of coast to coast Airbus A330 services to Perth and the commencement of ATR72 turboprop services from Sydney to Canberra and Port Macquarie to Brisbane and Sydney, operated by Perth based, SkyWest.
The additional cabin crew numbers will allow Virgin Australia to expand its regional network in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT.
From the Chairman- Ken Corbett
The Awards year
On completion of the 2011 NSW Tourism Awards it is worth reflecting on the year long process involved- indeed we are already working on the 2012 NSW Tourism Awards before we all take a summer holiday break.
As well explained on our website (www.nswtourismawards.com.au) the Awards are about excellence and encourage continuous business improvement. We have many statements from all our entrants; not always just winners, as to the value of entering the Awards as a business.
I want to however really focus on the Awards process to give all our members an insight into the time and effort this program requires.
TICNSW employs both internal and contracted staff to run the Awards; we have a management committee as the main decision making authority reporting to the TICNSW Board. Our principle sponsor Destination NSW sits on the management committee as does the Chair of Judges. The NSW Awards are the country’s most prestige program over the last two years based upon the national results.
First up is the Call for Entries process and concurrent securing of Sponsors. In March in conjunction with the Minister for Tourism we launch the NSW Tourism Awards and host a training and information session with the regional awards coordinators to ensure smooth integration.
In NSW we currently have 6 Regional Awards, all of which feed into the State Awards:
- Blue Mountains, Lithgow and Oberon Tourism Awards of Excellence 2011
www.visitbluemountains.com.au - Greater Sydney Tourism Awards
http://awards.sydneywidetourism.com.au/ - Hunter & Central Coast Awards for Excellence in Tourism
www.tourismhunter.com.au - Inland Tourism Awards
www.inlandtourismawards.com.au - North Coast Tourism Awards
http://www.midnorthcoasttourism.com.au/tourism-awards - South Coast Tourism Awards
www.awards.southcoast.net.au
The focus remains on the regional awards until they are all completed and we then turn to the State Awards and the judging process. By this time our coordinators have worked hard to ensure the entrants have been able to submit their online submission by the end of August.
Judging is a big exercise with up to 30 judges devoting time to both site inspections (not easy in a State our size) and the reading of online submissions. In late September we bring all the Judges together and determine winners via a rigorous process all of which is audited by major accounting firm Ernst & Young to ensure fairness and equity across all entries.
Through all of this sits a very dynamic website that requires constant monitoring and updating.
Huge effort then goes into the Awards Ceremony and Dinner; production of this requires specialised skill as the closely guarded names of winners, plus other commendations is worked up into audio visual presentations and scripts combined with choosing an MC, entertainment, menu, room decorations and the seating.
Finally the big night occurs and at around 10:00pm we all breathe a little more easily and start our thoughts for the year to come. As always we review this structure for the following year looking for any improvements, if necessary.
Well done and congratulations to all involved in this year’s Awards.
John McKernan
For many years the primary effort for the NSW Tourism Awards has been the responsibility of our Chair of the Awards committee, Board Director (and TICNSW life member) John McKernan. At both State and National level, John has been the country’s foremost authority on Tourism Awards. Whilst retired for a number of years from any formal business activity John has contributed an enormous amount of time and effort into the Awards process.
In 2012 John will take a bit of a back seat as TICNSW Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies takes a more hands on role. Fortunately John is not leaving the Awards completely and will again be on hand for mentoring. It is impossible to use words like “valued, contribution and effort” to do justice to John’s effort. We thank John for his contribution over the years.
TICNSW welcomes our new Members
The TICNSW team would like to welcome all of our new members to our steadily growing membership base.
New members include:
Clubs NSW
As the New South Wales club industry’s peak representational body, ClubsNSW aims to deliver a range of services and representation that strengthens industry conditions for the benefit of those working within the industry and the local communities they support.
ClubsNSW provides services covering the management of an industry code of practice; national media relations; member assistance and educational business services tailored for directors, managers, and staff; financial and insurance services; industry and community marketing and communications campaigns; industry-specific conferences, trade exhibitions, seminars, and workshops; and, responsible gambling services.
Furthermore, the Association maintains close links to the core sporting and community values of registered clubs through its partnerships and support of organisations including the New South Wales Institute of Sport, Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets, the New South Wales Volunteer Rescue Association, and the Talent Development Project.
For further information on Clubs NSW please visit www.clubsnsw.com.au
Group Colleges Australia
One of the largest private providers of its kind in Australia, Group Colleges Australia (GCA) is a well-established, professional Registered Training Organisation that provides support services to educational and associated institutions, such as: Marketing, Financial and Technological support services.
Group Colleges Australia strives to ensure the highest level of education is provided to all students offering courses from Certificate level up to Advanced Diploma. Group Colleges Australia has a number of member colleges including the Central College, UIC Sydney and the Metro English College.
For further information on Group Colleges Australia please visit www.gca.edu.au
Tobruk Sheep Station
Tobruk Sheep Station, advertised as one of the most beautiful and most authentic rural and outback experience in the Sydney region offers an exciting, fun and interactive farm experience for all ages. Recently feature on Junior MasterChef, Tobruk is ideally suited for families through to corporate groups, seniors groups, international tourists and incentives who are looking for something unique or wanting to get out of the city and experience rural and outback Australia for the day.
For further information on Tobruk Sheep Station please visit www.tobruksheepstation.com.au
