When you are on the road and behind a wheel, you are reminded of how large our great state is and how diverse our tourism needs and concerns are. For some, the return of international visitors is front of mind, whilst for others, attracting and retaining workers is the number one concern.
With this context in mind, QTIC is bunkering down on our key advocacy priorities – building a robust and skilled workforce and ensuring Queensland is best placed to attract global and domestic guests.
This month, QTIC brought tourism operators to the table, as we sat down with Queensland Government representatives to discuss the state’s Towards Tourism 2032 strategy and its implementation. Collectively, we are looking at the investment, skills, sustainability, connectivity, demand, and supply that is needed to elevate Queensland tourism’s profile.
Raising our profile is a joint effort and our success hinges on much more than the determination of industry and government. For this reason, QTIC has been working in partnership with University of Queensland (UQ) researchers to develop the Queensland Tourism Employment Crisis Resilience and Recovery Strategy, which is due for release in October. The Strategy aims to facilitate the recovery of our tourism industry by addressing workforce challenges and creating a path forward.
For meaningful action and improvement to be made, it goes without saying that industry and government must formulate recovery and resilience measures that are based on the recommendations of those on-the-ground. There is no point in rolling out programs and initiatives that do not match-up with the real-world needs of businesses.
UQ researchers and QTIC staff have been travelling throughout Queensland, holding consultation sessions with operators. Thank you to those who gave their valuable time to provide input into this seminal work. QTIC’s Industry Workforce Advisor, Adam Stephen, was also on hand to provide immediate, one-on-one workforce support to operators in region. Adam has already helped over 60 tourism businesses in gaining new staff, developing workforce plans, and applying for grants.
There is much work to be done, but, with an air of cooperation and by listening to the concerns and needs of every person connected to the tourism industry, we can and will achieve much. I look forward to keeping you updated on our efforts.
Kind regards,
Brett Fraser
QTIC CEO
