News & Announcements

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) today welcomed the announcement by the Premier, Hon Annastacia Palaczszuk, of further industry support measures in response to the ongoing CoronaVirus crisis affecting Queensland’s tourism destinations.

QTIC Chief Executive, Daniel Gschwind said, “Business operators across the state were already dealing with the reputational impacts of the bushfire disaster, when the Corona Virus and the associated China travel ban decimated international tourism.

“The timing could not have been more unfortunate with the normally busy Chinese New Year season turning into a financial disaster for operators across the state, particularly in Cairns and the Gold Coast”.

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) has today called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham to double the previously allocated $76 million bushfire support package to respond to the evolving challenges of the CornaVirus crisis.

 

It is with relief that we acknowledge the announcement of a federal and state government consensus strategy to address concerns over shark control and visitor safety in the Great Barrier Reef area.

“The announcements yesterday by the Federal Environment Minister, Hon Sussan Ley, and Queensland Minister for Agricultural Development and Fisheries, Hon Mark Furner, demonstrates that a collaborative approach between different levels of government and industry can work”, QTIC Chief Executive, Daniel Gschwind said.

I was expecting to be writing about the inspiring efforts of industry and governments to drive the recovery efforts after the bushfire crisis. Instead, the focus has now shifted to a new threat, this time affecting the global community and causing even greater disruption to tourism. The Coronavirus outbreak has come at the worst possible time for our operators who were planning for the annual boost in international travel associated with Chinese New Year.

As the Industry Advisory Organisation for the Queensland tourism and hospitality industry, QTIC work closely with government and industry on a range of workforce development skills matters and provide industry intelligence on workforce development strategies and training advice to government. Take a look at their January update below.

QTIC extends our best wishes to the outstanding gold winning tourism operators who are representing Queensland at the Australian Tourism Awards.

Fun Over Fifty have won the very prestigious Banksia Foundation Sustainability Award for the Medium Business category.

Fun over Fifty have a number of Sustainability Initiatives that have lead to this award….examples include their Green Guest Policy (GGP):- offering passengers the opportunity to contribute to reducing the impact their stay in multi-night destinations has on the environment.

Brisbane-based tourism businesses are boosting their trade skills through the Tourism Industry Business Capability Program (TIBCP) and you can to.

The TIBCP is in its second year and is helping tourism businesses across the state build their digital and trade capabilities.

Tourism businesses are becoming social media savvy through the Tourism Industry Business Capability Program (TIBCP). 

The TIBCP offers complimentary workshops, run by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) and funded by the Queensland Government, for tourism operators to support the digital transformation of the industry.

A report released today in Madrid and commissioned by the High Level Panel for A Sustainable Ocean Economy, with includes the Australian Government, paints a disturbing picture for the future of our oceans and the communities dependent on them.

The report, ‘The expected impacts of climate change on the ocean economy’, assesses different climate change scenarios and their impacts on fisheries and reef tourism.  It suggests potential economic losses by the end of the century of over 90 per cent for reef tourism around the world. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef tourism, despite its best management practices, will not be insulated from any losses due to likely global climate impacts. While the details of future predictions over such a long-term horizon are always open to debate, the magnitude of the threat is evident.