As soon as the House of Representatives and Senate candidates are published, QTIC will again write to all of them with our recommendations and we will work with the Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) to emphasise to those prospective politicians the importance of tourism and hospitality for jobs, economic development, the community and for the environment in their electorates.
We can never miss an opportunity to put tourism front and centre for policy discussions, particularly as we are all working together to generate the strongest possible recovery for tourism in Queensland.
After celebrating the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards right here on the Sunshine Coast earlier this month, there can be no doubt that we have the innovative and quality-focused operators in our country that can deliver world-class experiences. Queensland winners came away with a swag of national awards and all and all our finalists could take a way a strong sense of being part of an illustrious cohort of state and territory winners who have persisted and succeeded through the toughest of times. They are an inspiration to the entire industry.
And talking of inspiration, the launch of our annual QTIC Young Professionals Mentoring Program, in the same week as the Awards, gave an indication of the strong future that tourism will have. A record number of 58 motivated mentees have been matched with an equal number of senior professionals to share experiences and help guide their careers. Mentors as well as mentees were full of enthusiasm at their first meeting and the energy was palpable in the room. Mentors often tell us that they feel equally rewarded with new ideas and inspiration through the program. I want to thank all participants for their commitment.
As you can see from the content of this newsletter, our activities are in full swing for the year, and settling into a more 'normal' rhythm again. We hope next month's Easter holiday will confirm that our industry is getting back to strength across the region - you all deserve that.
