About a decade ago…..

How did Australia lose the status of flavor of the month with overseas visitors? It was sometime shortly after Paul Hogan stopped throwing shrimp on the Barbie that Australian tourism hit a brick wall.

Clive Dorman wrote in a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, “In online forums during the past year, many Australians have expressed dissatisfaction with what they regard as high prices, poor value for money and poor customer service in Australia.” I believe he is referring to the domestic market. He also concedes “Australian tourism has hit rock-bottom. Like an addict looking for a road to recovery, the industry finally conceded last week there is a problem.”

Oh really!

The federal governments Tourism Research Australia agency released a report, “State of the Industry”, which sited, tourism to Australia and within Australia was headed for the pits more than 10 years ago.

Oh really!

What is really tragic is that tourists from around the globe still rate Australia as one place on their’ bucket list’. Tourism Australia managing director, Andrew McEvoy wants to double the spending, from $70 billion to $140 billion dollars. He actually believes doubling the expenditure is the aim; he also believes that building luxury accommodation is the answer. Let state here and now, you, Andrew, are unequivocally wrong. Just because you love luxury accommodation doesn’t mean everyone visiting Australia can afford it, or wants it. (And your accommodation is probably paid for by the government anyway!) What about the Northern Territory and northwest Western Australia, where tourism numbers are steadily growing with outback adventures.

Let’s look at the figures:

· Australians traveling to overseas destinations increased by 80%

· Domestic visitor nights have fallen 13%

Now, to achieve the goal of a new strategic approach, in other words turn these figures around, Australian tourism will need a massive turnaround from virtually zero growth, low investment and low returns, according to a report by Tourism Research Australia (I would like to know where they are going to find investor that will accept a low return for their input. All my millionaire friends certainly wouldn’t.) It seems people at Tourism Australia actually believe that an increase of 50,000 hotel rooms (across Australia), will increase annual growth of about 7.5 per cent in overnight expenditure for the next decade.

(I would like to know where they are going to find investor that will accept a low return for their input. All my millionaire friends certainly wouldn’t.)

Let me tell you now, this will only help in a very small way. What needs to happen, workers in the tourism and hospitality industry need to be properly trained, be more professional in their approach to their positions and give more of their Australian personality to the clients?

Southeast Asia increases their tourism revenue each year, by giving top service, even at the lowest levels. Okay, so your argument is, “but the wages in Southeast Asian countries are so small, if we gave that sort of attention, wages of Australian workers would be prohibitive, so that in Australia, tourism operators would go broke very quickly”. I don’t for one moment believe that argument! If you give exceptional service to your clients, they will reciprocate financially to your efforts. I have found that arguments over remuneration for services only happen when the service is mediocre or really bad. In online forums during the past year, many Australians have expressed dissatisfaction with what they regard as high prices, poor value for money and poor customer service in Australia.

Then Tourism Australia chooses a slogan with the negative word “nothing” in it, “There is nothing like Australia…” They are certainly right about that! The Victorians wasted money building a 5 star resort that has recently fallen into receivership and Andrew McEvoy wants 50,000 more deluxe rooms built?

Christopher Brown, head of the Tourism Task Force also says Australia needs an expanded aviation capacity, but with Qantas being protected on many routes, I cannot see that happening in the near future. Qantas needs to get rid of their fears of competition, and realize competition is healthy and good for the traveling public. It is true that Australia needs unique and authentic experiences for the overseas traveler if operators are to reach a higher target and better revenue.

But I want to end this blog with this comment, which I find shocking, This grand plan to increase tourism and revenue in tourism related industries, does not directly address the concerns of domestic travelers, who contribute about three-quarters of the industry's $93 billion annual revenue.

It is a time for a changing of the guard at Australian Tourism, time to get fresh blood, fresh innovative ideas that will address the problems of Australian tourism, both internationally and domestically. Get rid of the cocktail sucking hangers on, the deadwood, and get some real work done by someone who is interested in what they are doing, instead of what freebies there are on offer.

On my world travels I have found a large amount of people that want to come to Australia, it has long been their dream. Let us look at how we can help them realise their dreams.