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Recovery through Innovation will be the focus of a national tourism forum held in Townsville this week, Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business Jan Jarratt said today.
In Townsville for the 2011 Australian Regional Tourism Network (ARTN) Convention, Ms Jarratt said the event would bring together regional tourism industry leaders to focus on new opportunities, advancements in technology and how regional tourism businesses can engage with these trends.
“The ARTN Convention gives regional tourism businesses a unique opportunity to discuss our big issues, collectively come up with suggested solutions and seek out new opportunities,” Ms Jarratt said.
“Queensland’s tourism industry is arguably the most regionally dispersed in the country and it’s important to highlight almost half of every dollar spent on tourism in Australia is spent in regional destinations,” she said.
“Speakers at this year’s convention come from every state and territory and include representatives from Google Australia and Trip Advisor.
“There aren’t many times that such a diverse group of regional key players, including tourism leaders, operators and government representatives, can come together at once, so events like this that are crucial in future development.”
The theme of this year’s convention is Recovery through Innovation.
Ms Jarratt said the agenda aimed to set a new vision and direction for Australia’s regional tourism industry.
“The entire industry has done it tough so far this year and while recent holiday periods suggested a return in confidence there are important items that need to be addressed at a regional tourism level such as access, transport and infrastructure,” she said.
“During the five-day event delegates have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the region with a choice of field trips and guiding walking tours on offer.
“This is a wonderful event which provides great opportunity for Australia’s regional tourism network to meet and discuss how regional areas could weather challenges and gain success through small initiatives.”
More than 100 delegates from across the country were expected to attend the convention.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
