The Pathways to Industry Excellence program, delivered by QTIC, is helping tourism operators across Queensland take a fresh look at how they run their businesses. Delivered as free online courses, the program is designed to be easy to access and even easier to apply. While the learning happens online, the real impact is showing up in how businesses are evolving day to day.

For Trish Wadey from Cairns Adventure Group, signing up was about building on what was already working. With experience across operations, customer service and HR, she wanted to find new ways to better support her team and strengthen the business.

What she found was both practical and immediate.

The program sparked a shift in how Cairns Adventure Group approaches staff wellbeing. Instead of treating it as something separate, the team is now working towards embedding it more clearly across the business, with stronger collaboration and more structured support.

It also encouraged a fresh look at sustainability.

For Trish, this meant stepping back and reviewing how the business approaches Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), from goals through to everyday practices. It helped the team better understand how to define and communicate their sustainability efforts, while also introducing ideas they could put into action straight away.

She describes the experience as “valuable and thought provoking,” especially because the insights were so easy to implement.

Just as importantly, the program helped reshape how the business tells its story. Through real world examples, Trish gained new ideas for marketing and communication, making it easier to highlight what the business does well and share that more confidently with others.

That sense of practical learning is something many operators are experiencing.

In the Whitsundays, John Linton from Portland Roads Sailing took part in the program to build on his team’s strong focus on sustainability and wellbeing. What he gained was a clearer, more connected way of approaching both.

One of the biggest outcomes has been the growth of their ESG and Wellbeing Hub. What started as an internal focus has expanded to include suppliers, stakeholders, peers and guests, creating a more complete and consistent approach across the business.

For John, the benefits were clear.

“It added genuine value to my business, my team and our operations,” he says, highlighting how the impact reached far beyond the immediate team.

Stories like these show why the program is working. It is not about complex theory or one size fits all solutions. It is about giving operators simple, practical tools they can use in their own way.

For many, the biggest shift is clarity. A better sense of direction, stronger team alignment and more confidence in how they present their business to the world.

As more operators take part, those small changes are starting to add up. Businesses are growing stronger, teams are more connected and sustainability is becoming part of everyday thinking across the industry.

And for those involved, it is proof that sometimes meaningful change starts with something simple. The chance to learn, reflect and try something new.

“It added genuine value to my business, my team and our operations.” – John Linton

As more operators take part, those small changes are starting to add up. Businesses are growing stronger, teams are more connected and sustainability is becoming part of everyday thinking across the industry.

And for those involved, it is proof that sometimes meaningful change starts with something simple. The chance to learn, reflect and try something new.