TICNSW Newsletter | September 2011
In this Issue:
- Meet the Minister at Macquarie Street- Tuesday 11 October 2011
- First Budget a step in the right direction
- From the Chairman
- Merlin Entertainment Group investment welcome in NSW tourism
- Second Sydney Airport a must for the NSW economy
- Airport Link “Tax” review a win for tourism in Sydney
- TICNSW welcomes Richard Munro to the Board
- “A great airline but a lousy business”… Ansett ten years on
MEET THE MINISTER AT MACQUARIE STREET, TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER 2011
The Tourism Industry Council NSW in partnership with the Caravan and Camping Industry Association NSW presents the first Meet the Minister at Macquarie Street event to be held from 6:30pm on Tuesday 11 October at the Jubilee Room, NSW Parliament House.
We are very fortunate to have obtained the New South Wales Minister for Fair Trading, The Hon Anthony Roberts MP as our Guest Speaker. In 2010 the New South Wales Department of Fair Trading received a total of 41,811 complaints from consumers with travel and tourism related businesses accounting for the sixth largest percentage of these complaints. Fair Trading are able to provide a range of legislative information and services to organisations within the tourism industry and have recently been working closely with the Australian Federation of Travel Agents amongst others within the field to assist consumers and businesses on Trade Law. Mr. Roberts will provide an informative update on some of the recent changes to legislative requirements, particularly for smaller and medium enterprises.
Mr. David Elliott MP, Chair of the State Economic Development Committee and Member for Baulkham Hills will host the evening. In addition, a wide range of Ministers and Members of Parliament will be attendance.
Meet the Minister at Macquarie Street promises to be a great opportunity to meet and speak with your elected Parliamentary representatives in a relaxed and informal manner.
Guest Speaker Note:
The Hon Anthony Roberts MP is the Minister for Fair Trading and Member for Lane Cove. He was first elected to Parliament in 2003, having previously served as a Councillor, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Lane Cove. Prior to his election into Parliament, Mr. Roberts served as an Advisor to former Prime Minister John Howard and currently serves as a Director of the Lane Cove Club and is a Life Member of the UTS Haberfield Club.
Click here to download the invitation and registration form
FIRST BUDGET A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
The O’Farrell Government’s historic first budget, delivered last week by Treasurer Mike Baird, is a step in the right direction for New South Wales tourism, said TICNSW Executive Officer Andrew Jefferies.
In addition to reconfirmation of expenditure to the value of $133 Million in tourism and events over this financial year, the Council welcomes the new Government’s commitment to provide payroll tax relief and to heavily invest in new transport infrastructure such as safer roads, express trains, light rail services and 261 new buses.
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Industry transitions
The last few weeks has seen a spate of transitions in companies that have long been important to our industry. For many of us engaged in tourism in this State, long-term participants in roles are rare; we are an industry with frequent movement and should therefore celebrate and acknowledge long-term contribution to tourism.
Captain Cook Cruises recently announced the sale of the family run business to Sealink, a South Australian based company. The Haworth family from the early days with Geraldine and Trevor in the 70’s through to their children Anthony and Jackie more recently have run a business that has been active in the inbound and domestic market and built up the visitor experience of Sydney Harbour. Anthony and Jackie are staying with the company and we look forward to their continued contribution. Click here to read more on Captain Cook Cruise’s history
Scenic World Blue Mountains formerly the Katoomba Scenic Railway has an even longer history. Philip Hammon, son of founder, Harry Hammon recently retired as CEO. Philip set about modernising the business in 1996 with multimillion dollar upgrades, building the Cableway experience, Boardwalk and replacing the original Skyway installed in 1958. Philip won the NSW Tourism Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism by an Individual in 2009. Two of his four children, David and Anthea Hammon are now joint Managing Directors. and as third generation managers of the State’s most visited paid regional attraction (around 900,000 persons a year) are developing plans to further enhance visitor experience in the Blue Mountains.
Anthea, Phil, Peta & David Hammon
The third change is the departure of Todd Coates from BridgeClimb to be CEO of Ardent Leisure’s Theme Park division (Dreamworld, Whitewater World and Skypoint) based on the Gold Coast. Todd spent many years at Australia’s Wonderland in various management roles before becoming CEO in 1995. In 1998, BridgeClimb visionary Paul Caves convinced Todd to be General Manager in the pre-opening and launch of BridgeClimb before he became Managing Director in 2000. BridgeClimb has been an outstanding contributor to the Sydney experience under Todd’s leadership and throughout his management Todd has been a great supporter (and winner) of many NSW Tourism Awards, since 2001 BridgeClimb have won 10 State awards and were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 as a Major Tourist Attraction. We wish Todd well in the Gold Coast and his new venture.
Tourism is a people business and TICNSW recognises that these companies and the people involved have been significant contributors to the visitor experience in Sydney and NSW. I know all three products and the individuals well and the feature of all three products is a highly developed customer focus. This is essential to long-term success in Tourism and we encourage all NSW tourism suppliers to ensure that they deliver the best customer experience they can.
Ken Corbett, Chairman
MERLIN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INVESTMENT WELCOME IN NSW TOURISM
The British owned Merlin Entertainment Group’s decision to invest $40 million into revitalising some of Sydney’s major tourist draw cards is welcomed by the TICNSW.
Merlin Entertainment Group runs 75 tourist attractions across 17 countries, including Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly and Sydney Tower and Skywalk and have planned a multi-million dollar redevelopment and rebranding of Sydney’s tallest building – to be known as the Sydney Tower Eye from next month. Merlin purchased the four Sydney properties from Village Roadshow in December last year.
“This new investment for tourism in Sydney, including a new $2 million 4D Cinema and the May 2012 opening of a new attraction – Madame Tussaud’s celebrity wax museum at Darling Harbour – is a positive step for the beleaguered local tourism sector”, said Tourism Industry Council NSW Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies.
SECOND SYDNEY AIRPORT A MUST FOR THE NSW ECONOMY
The recent release of International and Domestic passenger movements at Sydney Airport over the past ten years clearly indicates the need for a second Airport in the Sydney Basin, said TICNSW Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies.
A report compiled by Tourism Futures International for Destination New South Wales indicates that Sydney secured 42.6% of all holiday visitors and 43% of total international arrivals into Australia, they also highlight a stagnant or slowly declining market share, slightly below the heights of figures achieved in 2003. Over the past ten years, overseas visitor arrivals have increased by 1.8% across Australia, Sydney achieved a modest increase of only 0.7%, outstripped by Melbourne with growth of 5.3%. For Australian residents departing overseas, Sydney had an average 5.4% per annum growth, trailed by Melbourne with 7.6%, Brisbane 9.9% and Perth 9.5%.
“These figures highlight the impact of the sluggish New South Wales economy and the need for a real boost through increased visitor arrivals. A second Sydney Airport will provide the marketplace with more competition, lower airfares and greater choice and convenience for residents in Sydney and New South Wales”, said Mr. Jefferies.
AIRPORT LINK “TAX” REVIEW A WIN FOR TOURISM IN SYDNEY
News that the NSW Department of Transport is reviewing the cost of City to Airport rail travel is a win for tourism in Sydney, said Executive Officer of the Tourism Industry Council NSW, Andrew Jefferies.
The review, announced by the New South Wales Minister for Transport, The Hon Gladys Berejiklian, comes after the release of a Productivity Commission report, criticising the expensive cost of tickets from the City to and from the Domestic and International Terminal Stations.
A single one-way tickets costs $15 for an adult whilst a return ticket costs $25, a return ticket for a family of two adults and two kids amounts to $81 in total. The company that operates the four Airport Link stations, charges $11.80 for a station access fee on top of the $3.20 CityRail charge, based on a one way ticket cost.
TICNSW WELCOMES RICHARD MUNRO TO THE BOARD
TICNSW welcomes the CEO of the Accommodation Association of Australia, Richard Munro to the Board. Richard joins the Board with a wealth of industry experience including as the Chairman of the Accommodation Division of the NSW Branch of the Australian Hotels Association and as the General Manager of Star City Hotel and Apartments.
“Richard officially joined our Board on July 21 to fill a casual vacancy, we are fortunate to obtain someone of Richard’s experience and caliber to oversee the development of the Council and our brand moving forward”, said Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies.
TICNSW welcomes Richard to the Board and we look forward to his contributions in the years ahead.
“A GREAT AIRLINE BUT A LOUSY BUSINESS”… ANSETT TEN YEARS ON
Commentary by Executive Officer, Andrew Jefferies- Former Ansett employee
Ten years ago, whilst many Australians witnessed and mourned the impact of the 9/11 atrocities in the United States, our sector suffered a devastating blow as the nation’s oldest and second largest carrier, Ansett Australia, was put into receivership by its parent, Air New Zealand.
To this day, Ansett’s shut down was the largest corporate layoff in Australia and the largest corporate write off in New Zealand history. Overnight, 16,500 Ansett employees were out of a job and 40% of the nation’s air capacity had been decimated. As a former Ansett employee, that week, ten years ago, was definitely the worst of my life!
However, ten years on, I often wonder about the impact of Ansett’s collapse upon our industry? Were we worse off that Ansett was left to go under without an injection of taxpayer dollars or did it allow our industry to renew and regenerate to essentially become sustainable with a shift towards more affordable travel at the low cost end of the market?
Ansett’s sad farewell is reminder of a yesteryear, industry worst practice business that operated in one of the world’s most liberal and open aviation markets.
Click here to read more on Ansett
