Tourism Council WA and Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association welcomed members to the Tourism Connect Industry Sundowner held at Abbey Beach Resort for an evening of tourism industry networking and socialising.
The event was a great opportunity for MRBTA Members to connect with staff at Tourism Council WA. Leslee Hall, TCWA Acting CEO, started the formal proceedings by congratulating Busselton for winning the 2021 GWN7 Top Tourism Town Award which recognises the town’s strong commitment to encouraging tourism and increasing visitation to the region.
Leslee provided an update on their key lobbying efforts including their key objectives arising from the COVID19 pandemic being the survival of tourism businesses, the opening of safe travel and further supporting accredited businesses through voucher and grant systems and policy setting.
Leslee also spoke about issues that are likely to emerge once unrestricted interstate and, eventually, international travel returns. It is anticipated that there will be more competition between destinations and states. There will be a need to be more competitive and TCWA will continue to lobby at the State level to secure marketing funding to maintain WA as a competitive destination for guests. Workforce accommodation is also on the advocacy agenda with TCWA talking to both State and Federal Government on this issue.
Sharna Kearney, MRBTA Joint CEO, reflected on the shifting issues from a focus on business survival at the start of the pandemic and now moving into a wider range of operational issues related to stable and secure workforces and working within capacity limits. Sharna acknowledged that the workforce issue is two-pronged with regard to employee recruitment and accommodation, and that localised work is underway to encourage career pathways for regional students and to also address how to quarantine and accommodate employees.
Thank you to all that attended and a huge thank you to the event’s host:
We hope to see you at our next Mingle on Thursday, 17th June at Swings & Roundabouts Margaret River.
