News & Announcements

The Regional Tourism Career Roadshow, a project to promote job opportunities and careers in the tourism and hospitality industry will be held in Brisbane on the 25 and 26 May this year.

Being rolled out to the thirteen tourism regions throughout Queensland, the Roadshow events aim to encourage school leavers, mature age, and people from all backgrounds to consider taking on some of the diverse roles in the tourism and hospitality industry.  There are many career paths in the industry and thousands of job opportunities currently in Queensland, especially as domestic tourism is showing strong signs of recovery.   The two-day events will feature hands-on activities, such as cooking, events planning and tourism tasks, allowing participants to gain a first-hand insight into different career pathways.

By Ceri Hohner, Senior Associate at FCB Workplace Law

Key Performance Indicators, or ‘KPIs’, are a common tool used to manage employees, but unfortunately, they often get a bad rap from both managers and workers for being onerous, inappropriate, time-consuming to enforce and assess, or just one more acronym mistakenly spelt with an apostrophe (despite being a plural, not a possessive noun). So why do businesses still use them?

With workforce challenges well and truly on the agenda for our industry, we are very excited to launch the first event of our state-wide Regional Tourism Careers Roadshows this week in Brisbane. QTIC has played a very active role in this space for many years, and this latest initiative is a well-planned action of the Queensland Tourism Workforce Plan, which was developed by the Queensland Government in collaboration with industry. QTIC chairs the committee guiding the action implementation of the plan and the roadshow project is funded by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT). On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, aspiring young people – and some not so young – will engage with industry professionals and employers to encourage them to embark on a fulfilling career in our industry. The event at the TAFE campus at Southbank in Brisbane will be followed by an innovative virtual career event with the opportunity for job seekers to connect directly and personally with employers who are looking for staff. Regional events will follow. We need every practical help to get the pipeline for jobs and skills going! Please contact us if you want to be involved in the regional events.

Winners have been revealed for Queensland’s hotly contested Top Tourism Town, with 37 outstanding finalists from across the state competing for the top award. The Awards hosted by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) recognise and celebrate towns that excel in providing an outstanding visitor experience.

Noosa takes the win for the Top Tourism Town Award (population over 5000) while Agnes Water comes out on top of its rivals earning the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population under 5000).

It is a good feeling, in writing these lines, to be able to reflect on more good news than bad. Easter, the holidays that followed and the long weekend just gone delivered a much-welcomed boost to tourism activity across the state. 

I was fortunate to spend a day in Longreach last week for the start of the celebrations around Qantas’ 100(+1) years commemorations and the Qantas Founders Museum. The optimism in the Outback for the tourism season is palpable. The main challenge everyone is talking about, like in most other regions, is the lack of skilled staff. At QTIC we remain very focused on that, with efforts at both national and state level to seek solutions.

By Ceri Hohner, Senior Associate at FCB Workplace Law

The much-anticipated Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021 (Bill) has passed Parliament and received Royal Assent. The Bill is a stripped-down and vastly reduced version of its original form which proposed reforms in five key areas which intended to overhaul the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). The only surviving element of the Bill which has made it into the FW Act are the amendments to casual employment arrangements.

So, what has changed?

The finalists are in for Queensland’s Top Tourism Town with 37 towns in the running from across the state. The Awards hosted by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) recognise and celebrate towns that offer an amazing visitor experience.

QTIC Chief Executive, Daniel Gschwind, said the Awards showcase the great and diverse destinations we have right here in Queensland.

Sometimes it is hard to remain strong and positive. As much of the East Coast of Australia is drenched in a severe downpour, some businesses have yet another challenge to add to the difficulties they faced over the last 18 months, including bushfires and COVID-19. I can only offer two reassurances to those operators who struggle with all this stress: you are not alone and QTIC will not rest doing everything in its power to support you.

Message from our Chief Executive, Daniel Gschwind

The Federal Government’s tourism support package, announced overnight, provides significant support for airlines, specifically to allow them to keep 8,600 employees in place for the international network capacity. There is also substantial relief for security and other airport charges, which is well accepted.
 
The high profile subsidy for 800,000 domestic airfares will also boost aviation demand and hopefully lead to notable increases in capacity in the domestic network. No doubt consumers will enthusiastically welcome the opportunity of cheap flights. Queensland has done comparatively well with 13 of the 33 subsidies routes leading to four of the state’s destinations (Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Whitsundays and Cairns). The other regions will be less impressed. Notably, Brisbane, a major tourism destination affected by COVID, is also not on the list, other than access to Uluru, Alice Springs and Launceston.
 

In the Year of Indigenous Tourism, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) welcomes the announcement by the federal government for a $40 million Indigenous Tourism Fund to assist the recovery of the industry.

QTIC Chief Executive Daniel Gschwind said this is great news for the industry as tourism operators struggle to stay afloat due to the impacts of COVID-19.