Talking to our Neighbours

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) welcomed students and peers from the Province of Nusa Tenggara Timor (NTT) in Indonesia who are undertaking a Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Training Program with Griffith University.

QTIC Chief Executive Daniel Gschwind delivered an informative talk to discuss tourism in Australia and specifically QTIC’s role and an advocate and ‘voice for tourism’ to support sustainable tourism development.

Tourism is a global industry and many of the issues our operators face are similar around the world. We can all learn from each other. The challenges of coordinating a complex industry and connecting with governments are also universal to all destinations. I believe Australian expertise can make a genuine contribution to making our industry a powerful global contributor to economies, communities and the environment.


There were 24 students and peers who attended the talk with everyone expressing a keen interest to learn more about the way tourism and destinations are managed in Queensland.

Picessylia Safiransi Anakay, a participating, said she enjoyed learning more about QTIC and the tourism industry.

“The discussion with Daniel gives me the ideas of how we can talk to the government and how to improve the tourism industry. Personally, I don’t see that we have somebody like QTIC back home, somebody who consults between government and community.

“Tourism connects all sectors and we need to understand that it is not only the government’s job to improve the tourism industry, but everybody. When everyone has the same understanding, we can all work together to improve the tourism industry,” said Ms Anakay.

Project Administrator of NTT Indonesia, Jacaranda Chelvanathan accompanied the students and peers for the talk and commented on some key takeaways from the session.

“The talk was great; it was very insightful and inspiring. I think a big takeaway is how QTIC collaborates with different types of associations. It was also interesting hearing about climate change and the impact it has on tourism,” said Ms Chelvanathan.

Ms Anakay added, “A key takeaway for me was to build those good relationships and build trust. Knowledge is everything and we need to educate people in how tourism can help everybody”.