Submission to the
Australian Government
on the
GREEN PAPER ON
DEVELOPING
NORTHERN
AUSTRALIA
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Prepared by:
Queensland Tourism Industry Council
PO Box 13162
George
Street QLD 4003
GREEN PAPER on Developing Northern
Australia
AUGUST 2014
QUEENSLAND TOURISM INDUSTRY COUNCIL
As the peak industry body for tourism in Queensland, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC)
represents the interests of the industry through partnerships with operators, government agencies,
industry bodies and tourism stakeholders at a local, state and national level. This includes our formal
partnership - DestinationQ - with the Queensland Government.
Our membership comprises more than 3,000 regional members (individual and corporate) alongside 13
Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) and 18 industry sector associations.
Industry has trusted us for more than a decade to advocate for a business environment that delivers on
current and future tourism needs. Similarly, decision makers have sought our industry knowledge and
networks to influence policy and budget decisions to create a competitive business environment.
INTRODUCTION
The Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the
Australian Government on the Green Paper on Developing Northern Australia (the Paper).
QTIC’s Chief Executive, Daniel Gschwind, attended the two 2014 Northern Development Summits held in
Darwin and Townsville which brought together industry, Indigenous, conservation, natural resource
management bodies, research and other sectors. QTIC was also invited to make a submission at the
public hearing of the Joint Committee inquiry into the development of northern Australia on 20 May
2014. Our involvement in the Summits and our vested interest in the economic future of northern
Australia will be the foundation of the recommendations put forth in this submission.
We commend the government on the initiative, the work undertaken to date and the rightful recognition
of tourism as one of the economic powerhouses for northern Australia in the years to come. In Deloitte’s
October 2013 report “Positioning for prosperity? Catching the next wave”, it stated that Australia must
position itself for prosperity by extending the current run of the mining “wave” and look at what other
future waves that we can catch. The report identified that the seeds of growth for Australia’s next two
decades can be found in our unique advantages in tourism, agribusiness, gas, international education and
wealth management. Collectively, these five waves could be as big as mining and have the potential to
add a quarter of a trillion dollars to the national income over the next two decades.
Tourism is projected to be among the world’s fastest growing industries and already contributes $100.1
billion to the Australian economy through the total expenditure of international and domestic visitors for
the year ending March 20141. Maximising the potential of the industry will see the industry growing at
least 10% faster than Global Gross Domestic Product (more than 3.7%).
In order for northern Australia to play a major role in the achieving tourism’s full potential, QTIC has
identified our key priorities below. These priorities align to the six broad policy directions as identified in
the Paper and require all levels of government to work together to achieve:
1
Tourism and Research Australia. (2014) Tourism Update March quarter 2014.
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GREEN PAPER on Developing Northern Australia
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Establishing infrastructure and access to the region that allows for greater connectivity,
improved tourism experiences, more regional tourism events and better access to tourism
products.
Provide new experiences that focus on Indigenous culture, and those that highlight the region’s
‘hero experiences’2 as well as deliver more choices for the visitor.
Foster the knowledge economy to achieve global competitiveness.
Improve the natural resource management to allow sustainable developments that highlight the
region’s strengths.
Build sustainable communities through tourism to create cohesion for those in Indigenous
communities, regional or rural towns and cities and deliver strong local economies.
Developing a shared workforce and the workforce capacity to meet the needs of the tourism
industry towards 2020.
Furthermore, we support the Kimberley to Cape submission, particularly the recommendation that the
White Paper adopt the following principles in this regard:
 A resilient, diverse and sustainable economy for Northern Australia is necessary to underpin the
wellbeing of its communities, the long-term management of its resources and its contribution to
society;
 Northern Australia’s unique, intact and globally-significant natural and cultural values must be
recognised, utilised and safeguarded as central to its future;
 Indigenous interests must be recognised, and northern development and socio-economic
development need to be pursued together, since neither is sustainable, nor equitable, without
the other; and
 Development must involve genuine collaboration with local communities and be compatible with
local cultures and conditions.
Tourism in Queensland draws many parallels to the opportunities and challenges for the economy of
northern Australia. In particularly, and as per The Queensland Plan3, “regions are the engine rooms of our
state” and we must build on what already makes our regions exceptional: people, local enterprise, and
natural resources. These elements will develop our strategic and competitive advantage.
TOURISM PRORITIES
Infrastructure and access
The Queensland Plan rightly identifies that infrastructure – one of the nine foundations of the Plan –
“creates building blocks for the future”. With absolute relevance to the northern Australia region, the
Plan states that:
“We need the right infrastructure in place to capitalise on the opportunities arising from the
economic growth of our Asia-Pacific neighbours, including those created by the digital economy.
2
'Hero Experiences' are the 'essence' of a destination and are:
 those world class iconic experiences that provide a destination with a real competitive edge over other
destinations;
 those experiences that focus on what is truly unique or memorable or engaging about a destination; and
 those experiences which meet the needs of our target markets.
3
The Queensland Plan is an aspirational community vision that sets a roadmap for growth and prosperity over the
next 30 years.
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Queenslanders want to be able to export our resources, welcome new tourists at our
international airports and undertake business transactions online.
Upgrading and expanding Queensland’s infrastructure will require significant investment.”
The relationship between tourism and infrastructure has dual benefits – tourism developments can
modernize or even provide infrastructure that paves the way for stronger economic growth, while the
right infrastructure may be the catalyst for tourism developments particularly in the case of drive
tourism4.
The Queensland Drive Tourism Strategy 2013-2015 demonstrates the latter and highlights the following
key areas as a way for infrastructure to facilitate drive tourism in Queensland:
 Road quality, safety and maintenance
 Signage
 Roadside infrastructure
 Accommodation and facilities
 Visitor information and technology applications
The drive tourism market is very important for Queensland’s tourism industry, accounting for
approximately 70% of the overnight leisure market in Queensland. In addition, day trippers are a
significant part of the overall drive market and represent a significant portion of visitors in some parts of
the state. The Queensland day trip market, the vast majority of which was by car, was worth $4.4 billion
to the state’s economy in 2012. It is important to continue the support for the domestic market, and not
just the international market, particularly for regional areas in central Queensland who achieve
significantly greater visitor expenditure and visitation from domestic travelers than from abroad.
In the case of “the rise of Asia”, infrastructure projects such as airports, ports and the like, are critical in
capturing new markets from the Asia region and deliver experiences that match changing consumer
needs. However, there will also be tougher competition as the tourism infrastructure in other world
locations – particularly from developing countries - improves.
China is expected to make the largest increase in capital investment in tourism between 2012 and 2033.
Other countries substantially growing their investment include Thailand, Singapore, Mexico and
Indonesia. Australia’s forecast investment growth is low and roughly equal to that of other developed
economies. Undoubtedly, investments in tourism infrastructure are translating to visitor numbers. China
has continued to grow in popularity since 2003 and in 2011 attracted the third highest number of
international tourism arrivals worldwide.
Nevertheless, it is reinforced that “infrastructure need not focus exclusively on large scale or ‘mega’
projects. Smaller scale projects, upgrades, maintenance, or better use of existing infrastructure can all
deliver productivity benefits, often outweighing those of larger and more costly projects” (The
Queensland Plan, pg. 46).
Providing or facilitating the development of tourism infrastructure is one thing, whereas access is
another. Improved access into places of high environmental value, for the betterment of the land and the
4
The drive market represents visitors who use some form of vehicular transport as a mode of transport to reach
their destination, where the main purpose of visit is leisure (i.e. where their main purpose is for a holiday or to visit
friends and relatives). This includes day trips and overnight trips to one or multiple destinations.
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GREEN PAPER on Developing Northern Australia
enjoyment of the community and visitors, will enable our natural assets to become increasingly valuable
tourist attractions in the future.
Queensland, as is the case for other states in northern Australia, is endowed with world class natural
assets that will continue to attract tourists in greater numbers. The trends collated in a 2013 report by
the CSIRO titled “The future of tourism in Queensland” show natural beauty and pristine wilderness will
hold greater value of tourists of the future. Ease of access, effective management and promotion of
natural assets will help Queensland to fetch a price premium in global tourist markets.
The desirability of ‘world class management of our natural environment’ and the importance of the
protection of our natural assets; is again through articulated in The Queensland Plan.
New experiences
Although the level of material consumption continues to grow, there are emerging signs of a relative
decoupling of economic growth with material consumption (OECD, 2011). Tangible goods are still
purchased during a holiday but tourism is largely about the experience. As incomes continue to grow,
tourism will play an important role in satisfying people’s cravings for memorable experiences.
There is also an increasing desire for authentic experiences and tourists are placing an increasing value on
the nature and quality of the experience. More tourists are taking cultural experiences home with them
rather than traditional souvenirs.
Australia and Queensland’s cultural tourism is largely underdeveloped, despite Australia having a unique
cultural heritage and a population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are part of the
modern Australian social fabric with ancient roots in this continent. But unlike with our natural assets and
heritage, we have not been as successful in making those First Nation peoples part of our story and part
of our tourism success. This despite the fact that we often see Indigenous Australians featured in
promotional materials, along with images of rock paintings and sounds of didgeridoos.
QTIC and the wider tourism industry want to see change and have Indigenous Australia included in our
story but not in a tokenistic use of Indigenous culture and people. Instead, industry must forge
partnerships with Indigenous Australians in main stream tourism businesses, as business owners,
employees, mentors, leaders. Partnerships can also offer appropriate access for visitors to the unique,
ancient culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples, their stories, their connection to country, their
knowledge. Few industries have the same potential to build commercial success in harmony with social
and environmental aspirations.
Whether it be cultural tourism or any other tourism offering, Queensland and northern Australia must
put emphasis on improving and providing tourism products that satisfy the ever-changing needs of the
traveller. This has been further highlighted in Queensland’s 2014 annual DestinationQ5 forum themes
that centre on growing individual businesses and products. The forum, to be held mid-September 2014,
will examine what business operators can do to overcome obstacles faced when driving change in their
businesses and what role government can play in assisting.
5
DestinationQ is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the tourism industry, recognising tourism
as one of the four pillars of our economy. The main goals are to make Queensland Australia's number one tourist
destination and achieve our share of the national target by reaching $30 billion in overnight visitor expenditure per
annum by 2020.
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Tourism operators in Cairns, for example, have identified the following matters that would assist in
developing their products:
 Encouraging collaboration, links and greater accessibility of people with ideas and information.
 Seed funding as a necessary part of supporting new ideas.
 Supporting the ‘grass-roots’ organisations that work with operators to engage regionally.
 Driving quality in the industry and getting operators to engage in the direction of the industry.
 Sustainable long term funding
 Reducing the burden and encouraging growth:
o Tax incentives for innovative ideas.
o Direct a share of payroll tax, Land tax and Stamp duty to tourism marketing.
o Allowing operators to get the Export Market Development Grant ongoing to access new
markets.
o Assess the feasibility of an insurance underwriting fund.
 Create pathways for young people to enter the labour market.
 Government and industry to show leadership in seeking ideas and inspiration internationally to
drive our competitive advantage.
 Support the industry bid for Workforce Reform.
 Review of the National Parks permit system.
Knowledge economy
Knowledge transfer, cultural variables and social embeddedness are key determinants of global
competitiveness for advanced regions and nations and foster a transformation of capitalism towards a
‘knowledge economy’6. Tourism destinations have an imperative to innovate and remain competitive in
an increasingly global competitive environment. A pre-requisite for innovation is the understanding of
how destinations source, share and use knowledge.
The knowledge-based economy has two important new features that demand a rethinking of our
approach to both tourism destinations and tourism policy7. These features include:
 Structural economic change, as the new tourism products and innovations brought about by
technology development; technology breaks down barriers to knowledge sharing.
 The employment of highly skilled labour as a means of competitive advantage and long-run
economic growth. The knowledge-based economy will compete for staff and customers on
different criteria.
Tourism organisations and government also have a role in the knowledge economy through providing
industry insight and the tools for operators to be able to participate in the knowledge economy. These
can include initiatives such as:
 Informing industry and government decision making through the gathering, analysis and
dissemination of contemporary knowledge and research;
 Stimulating global conversation through online relationship development strategies, assets,
content creation and initiatives; and
6
Baggio, R. (2010). Knowledge transfer in a tourism destination: the effects of a network structure. The Service
Industries Journal, vol. 30.
7
Scott, N. Baggio, R. Cooper, C. (2008). Network analysis and tourism: from theory to practice. Channel View
Publications.
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Enabling and stimulating the ‘real time’ gathering and sharing of experience content through
investment in technology infrastructure and platforms and content creation practices.
Furthermore, QTIC supports the “further development of education, science and research services in the
north [that] will support innovation and development, grow and skill the local workforce, and diversify
the northern economy. There are also opportunities to meet the needs of emerging tropical economies
around the world as the north is one of the few established economies with this expertise” (The
Queensland Plan, page 60).
Natural resource management
The Green Paper makes a very strong statement about the natural resources and landscapes of the
region:
Many opportunities for northern development flow from the region’s unique natural qualities,
including valuable resources and environmental assets found nowhere else on earth.
The natural environment is one of the foundations of Queensland’s – and Australia’s – multi-billion dollar
tourism industry. The Queensland Plan identifies the environment as one of the nine foundation areas,
and positions the community to be “guardians of the environment”. QTIC reinforces the notion that the
conservation and natural resource management sector makes an important contribution to the northern
Australian economy. Effective management of these unique landscapes, which include the Great Barrier
Reef and the Wet Tropics, will create opportunities for increased tourism and ensure future generations
continue to enjoy these world class environments.
Research conducted by Tourism Australia found that 40% of respondents identified nature as one of the
‘top 5’ considerations when it comes to selecting a holiday destination and furthermore ranked Australia
as ‘number one’ when it comes to world class beauty and natural environment. Queensland’s natural,
Indigenous and cultural assets therefore underpin the long-term sustainability and competitive
advantage of the tourism industry. As such, the tourism industry provides an economic argument for
conservation, restoration and presentation of its assets.
Ecotourism and other nature-based tourism activities should be highly encouraged as an approach for
developing high quality experiences in natural areas that showcase northern Australia’s unique
environment and wildlife. QTIC alongside the state government has set an agenda that will make
ecotourism one of the most important markets in Queensland’s tourism industry. The strategic priorities
and actions for ecotourism are set out in the Queensland Ecotourism Plan 2013-2020 which is
encapsulated in its vision:
Queensland is Australia’s number one ecotourism destination and recognised as a world leader in
ecotourism, delivering best practice nature-based experiences that contribute to the conservation
of our natural resources and cultural heritage.
Sustainable communities
World Tourism Day (WTD) is an annual global event that highlights tourism’s social, cultural, political and
economic value. This year, WTD 2014 is being held under the theme ‘Tourism and Community
Development’, focusing on the ability of tourism to empower people and achieve change in their local
communities.
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The official message from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) highlighted that
tourism is a people-based economic activity built on social interaction and can only prosper if it engages
the local population by contributing to social values such as participation, education and enhanced local
governance. At the same time, there can be no real tourism development if such development damages
in any way the values and the culture of host communities or if the socio-economic benefits generated by
the tourism sector do not trickle down to the community level8.
QTIC supports the recommendations of the Kimberley to Cape submission below:
 supporting economies that a) are locally based, injecting income into local economies, b) create
enduring employment opportunities and economic independence, c) strengthen local
communities, d) help maintain cultural obligations, and e) complement rather than compete
with existing values.
 promoting business development policies that build on and safeguard the North’s competitive
advantages such as its outstanding natural capital, traditional knowledge and strategic location
via eg economies such as education, tourism, recreation, defence, bio-prospecting, wild fisheries,
and cultural and environmental services.
 supporting tenure reforms that promote diversified, sustainable and culturally based economies
including improvements to land ownership for Indigenous communities.
Furthermore, work undertaken for the Destination Tourism Plans, which are currently being finalised for
all 13 official regional Tourism Organisations of Queensland, detail that of Tropical North Queensland
(TNQ) region’s 250,000 residents, over one third of the population benefit from tourism, more than
double the Queensland average (38% compared with QLD 16%). Locals like the way the industry is
developing (72%) and want tourist numbers to grow (68%).
More TNQ residents agree that tourism enhances their local community (82%), higher than the
Queensland average (46%). Agreement among residents on the top three positive outcomes of tourism
also remains high:
 Greater cultural diversity (96% in 2013 and 95% in 2010)
 Important economic benefits (95% in 2013 and 91% in 2010)
 Increased regional profile (92% in 2013 and 85% in 2010).
In Mackay, despite the emphasis on major employers like mining, construction and retail, overall the
locals believe that the tourism industry has a role to play in creating positive outcomes for their
community. Two in three (66%) residents also ‘like’ tourists. This is greater than the state average of 57%.
As described in The Queensland Plan, “communities are our heartland”. They are places where we
demonstrate our diversity and community spirit and provide vital hubs for the services and activities that
connect us. Tourism provides a strong mechanism for such cohesion, and meaningful employment
opportunities and community participation for the people.
Workforce capacity
Achieving the Queensland government and industry’s goal of $30 billion in tourism expenditure by 2020
requires between 14,000 and 38,000 additional jobs. With Northern Territory and Western Australia also
able to expand n their tourism markets, the estimated number of additional jobs will climb to a
8
Rifai, T. (2014) Message by the UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
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considerable figure. Achieving the full tourism potential in northern Australia requires the right skills to
be depoloyed in the right places, including across Northern Australia.
QTIC has identified key priority areas to create a tourism workforce that will achieve Queensland’s
Tourism 2020 vision.
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Workforce Planning: Improving the transferability, quality of skills and job readiness of the
tourism workforce
o Understand future tourism demand to drive training and education.
o Re-skilling for cross sector mobility (e.g. resources sector to tourism).
o Increase awareness of and engagement with people with a disability, mature age and
Indigenous persons within the industry.
o Improve global workforce opportunities through migration and international students.
o Develop skills to enhance Indigenous opportunities.
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Quality of Education and Training: Delivery of up-skilling and job relevant training to meet key
industry needs
o Deliver industry current training that addresses skills shortages and gaps.
o Contextualise curriculum to meet tourism business needs.
o Guide RTOs to use flexible course structures to align with specific business needs.
o Partner government, industry and training providers to deliver quality training that is
linked to employment outcomes.
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Business Innovation: Using innovation to drive individual and collective business development
o Incorporate technology skills into the tourism curriculum to address future business and
workforce opportunities.
o Enable job security for students, employers and employees.
o Accredit businesses to improve competitiveness and deliver a quality service.
o Support new and existing business development, including Indigenous businesses and
those within the creative industries.
Indigenous people can add significantly to our tourism competitiveness also in the workforce
development area. Tourism offers opportunities for Indigenous involvement in mainstream businesses, in
remote destinations and communities and on indigenous land. It offers access to skill development for
first-time entrants into the workforce across a broad spectrum of employment. Importantly, by making
accessible ancient and unique culture experiences that can be shared with visitors, we can enrich our
tourism offering.
ENQUIRIES
We thank you for considering this submission and welcome any feedback you may have. For all enquiries,
please contact Daniel Gschwind (07) xxxx xxxx or email xxxxxxxxxx.
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