Premier in Port Douglas: Meetings with operators and tourism recovery announcement

TOURISM

Karlie Brady

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was in Port Douglas today with Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Image: Karlie Brady.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was in Port Douglas today to speak with local tourism operators and announce a new tourism recovery action plan.

The Premier was joined by Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, Assistant Tourism Minister Michael Healy, and Member for Cook Cynthia Lui.

Premier Palaszczuk announced the formation of an Industry Reference Panel that will oversee the development of an Action Plan for Tourism Recovery to identify new recovery initiatives that position Queensland’s tourism industry for success after COVID-19.

The Premier today named aviation leader Liz Savage as Chair of the panel, alongside former Tourism Australia CEO Andrew McEvoy, and Tourism and Events Queensland Chair Brett Godfrey, who will work with all sectors of the tourism industry to explore recovery options.


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Speaking at the Crystalbrook Marina in Port Douglas today, the Premier said, “we want to set up our tourism industry for the future. So, once we come out of the pandemic, where are we going to be and what will we need for the future?” the Premier said.

“That’s why we’ve appointed some of the best in the business to deliver a blueprint for the recovery of this sector in Queensland.


Premier speaks with local operators

On Wednesday the premier met with Port Douglas and Daintree tourism operators and stakeholders to hear directly from them about how the region was fairing with the ongoing effects of COVID-19.

“Yesterday I had the great privilege of meeting with a number of tourism operators here (in Port Douglas) and the clear messages are that the holiday vouchers are being very well received and that we need to make sure that people are using their vouchers.

“They are a great measure to help our operators and we will be visiting a couple of places today to see how that is going.”

The Premier also raised the issue of the ongoing labour shortage being felt across tourism and hospitality due to the lack of international backpackers.

“What we also heard loud and clear yesterday is that we need some more staff up here in Port Douglas.

“So, if you are anywhere else in Queensland or Australia and you are thinking about moving for work, I don’t think there is a better place than Port Douglas.”

Mayor Michael Kerr was in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting and said it was a very productive conversation covering the issues that Douglas has been going through and ideas around how the State Government could further assist.

“Discussions were about how COVID has affected Douglas businesses over the past 12 months and current issues that were raised included staffing resources, lack of housing for staff, transport in the area, bike paths, further encouragement of tours and how COVID service restrictions are not consistent across industries causing confusion and often making it extremely difficult to operate,” he said.

Mayor Kerr said he was encouraged that leaders were listening to the region’s problems.

“Only a couple weeks ago we had our federal representative Warren Entsch and the Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan here in our Shire also listening to our businesses.

“Yesterday we had our local representative Cynthia Lui, the Assistant Tourism Minister Michael Healy, the Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe and the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in our Shire listening to our businesses about their ongoing issues.

“To me, that’s a big deal and a strong display of wanting to directly hear from our Douglas businesses and I thank all of those representatives for taking a direct interest in hearing from Douglas rather than just the region in general.”

With JobKeeper scheduled to end at the end of the month the Premier also again reiterated her call to the Federal Government to further support.

“It is ten days until the end of JobKeeper, this is a really serious issue for our tourism industry, once again I am still calling on the Federal Government to have more targeted support for people.

“This is a real issue. This was raised again yesterday with me by the local tourism operators. We want to make sure that our tourism sector gets through the worst of this pandemic so they can come out at the other end.”

Blueprint for tourism recovery

Alongside the Premier in Port Douglas for the announcement of the Action Plan for Tourism Recovery was Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe who said the plan would look at tourism potential and confidence as the world emerges from the pandemic.

“The next steps are really critical,” he said.

“That is why we are working with the industry, listening to what we need to do to be successful in the future and planning how we get there.

“With vaccines being rolled out in Australia and around the world, the panel will work with industry on a considered and thorough plan for Queensland tourism beyond 2021.”

To identify recovery options for the plan a range of issues will be explored, including:

  • Changes in consumer demand and emerging market opportunities
  • Queensland’s brand positioning against competitor destinations, as both a state and destination-specific brands
  • Enablers of tourism growth, including skills, infrastructure and technology
  • Re-building airline capacity into Queensland as well as other transport options
  • Opportunities for new products and experiences, including shovel ready projects capable of spurring investment, rejuvenation and visitation
  • Opportunities for events to drive visitation, including to regional areas and during off-peak periods
  • Opportunities for Queensland to increase its share of international education.

Mark Olsen, Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), said today’s announcement was a boost in confidence for our industry, workforce, and customers.

“The industry action plan will set a roadmap for the recovery and the change that is needed in our industry to respond to the changing need of our consumers worldwide,” he said.

Mr Olsen added that the plan will help tourism bodies and businesses coordinate their recovery efforts Australia wide, particularly when it comes to reigniting international travel.

“It will be an incredibly important set of directions for the industry so that we know what we are doing, how we are doing it, and when we are doing it by, because you can’t employ people or keep them in your business if you don’t have confidence in a strong future, so it is all about building confidence.”


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