Regional tourism in the spotlight with NSW reshuffle

Two surfers at sunrise about to go out. Lots of copyspace.

It is a serious shake up, as the new NSW Tourism Minister outlines renewed support for industry and regional tourism.

In his first major event as the NSW Minister for Tourism & Major Events, Adam Marshall, delivered a ringing endorsement for the potential of the state’s regional tourism industry.

Following the NSW reshuffle last week, Minister Marshall made special reference to the commitment of the NSW Government in developing regional tourism across the State.

Minister Marshall was the special guest at Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW’s Chairman’s Function, which heralds in the year for the State’s tourism and hospitality industry. The event was attended by Representatives of the tourism industry’s leading organisations including Chair of Tourism Australia, Tony South, CEO of Destination NSW, Sandra Chipchase, and CEO of Business Events Sydney, Lyn Lewis Smith.

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Chair of TAA NSW, Peter Tudehope, said the presence of the new Minister was significant as it allowed the industry to reinforce the economic importance of the accommodation sector, which is the dominant player in the NSW tourism industry.

Tudehope explained further that on the back of sustained strong performance by the industry and the launch of major new tourism infrastructure, such as ICC Sydney, the accommodation industry had embarked on the largest-ever hotel development and upgrading phase in its history.

“The most comprehensive revitalisation of the Sydney’s hotel sector is currently underway, which will transform the city’s tourism infrastructure,” said Tudehope.
“Already $2.3 billion worth of hotel projects have been approved for the Sydney city area, with a further $1.9 billion of projects proposed and in advanced stages of planning. This development phase has extended well beyond the CBD to the airport and Western Sydney.”

Indeed, the potential of the industry to produce jobs and growth – now that tourism receipts have officially passed coal exports for the first time – was a point not missed by Tudehope. He said that while accommodation providers appreciated the elevation of the sector as a first-tier industry, investors required confidence that their investments would be sustainable in the long-term.

“TAA commends the Commonwealth and NSW government on their recognition of the importance of the visitor economy through initiatives such as agreements that maximise airline capacity and investment, improvements in visa processing and accessibility, long term funding of regional destination marketing bodies and the commitment to visitor infrastructure such as the International Convention Centre.”

“However, to sustain this confidence, governments need to ensure they don’t pick winners and losers in what is a rapidly changing market. The impact of the unfettered rise of unregulated short-term accommodation – under the guise of ‘sharing’ – can’t be underestimated. We are looking to government to be responsive to the need for transparency of supply through registration and proportionate regulation of ‘commercial operators’ on these online platforms,” concluded Tudehope.

Tudehope welcomed Minister Marshall’s commitment to addressing regional tourism issues, as he described how many regional areas have not benefited from the tourism boom in the same way as Sydney in recent years.

“Seasonality, poor international dispersal and lack of visitor economy infrastructure have resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy – poor visitation and poor investment,” Tudehope said.

“We look forward to the formation of the new regional NSW destination structures, which will underpin the rejuvenation of the regional NSW visitor economy.”

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