Tourism Industry Roundtable Communique

Question: Discuss about the Tourism Industry Roundtable Communique. Answer: Introduction Travelling is a privilege, thus, much benefits and privileges could be enjoyed by the participants if tourism activities were handles responsibly. Sustainable tourist destinations should be well developed and maintained so as to fully give the tourists enough utility. In Australia, tourism activities is a good contributor to its national GDP. The paper will be useful to the policy makers in making viable decisions towards improving this sector; investors will also be able to gain insights on the best services to offer so as to drive a great demand. In order to promote the tourism industry, every Australian state and territory has organizations that deriver statistical data and analysis that are state-specific. Tourism is a most economical activity in Australia which is a good source of economic growth (Hooper and Zyl, 2017). This industry has created many jobs and thus, a reliable source of employment. The paper shall identify the changes that have occurred to this industry over time ; how such changes has contributed to the growth of this industry. These are some of the reforms that have been initiated by the government or even by the private investors. The competitive advantage of Australia in tourism is increased by its safe environment, appealing natural assets, low cost airline services and its proximity to Asia (Austrade.gov.au, 2017). This industry is being faced by many ongoing challenges; for this reason, there was the development of tourism 2020 agenda that is aimed at curbing these challenges and embrace the emerging opportunities. The tourism 2020 was developed to provide a growth framework to enhance competition in the future. The tourism 2020 has four policy priorities; (i) encouragement of high-quality tourism experiences which will include indigenous tourism; (ii) to limit the regulatory burdens facing this industry such as tax, red tapes, etc.; (iii) driving demand by undertaking market campaigns that are coordinated and effective (Tourism.australia.com, 2017); (iv) supporting of tourism infrastructure development with an aim of driving demand. The minister of Tourism for the Australian government launched a national long-term tourism strategy in 2009 to address the structural weaknesses facing the industry (OECD, 2012). Reforms has contributed in the increased flow of tourists from many world economies (Theobald, 2013). The graph shows that in fact there has been development in the tourism sector and that Australian tourism industry is growing. There was a lower flow of international tourist in the past years, however, the graph shows that this has greatly changed over time. The current record on Tourists arrivals is very high. This improvement is tied on reforms made to this sector. Besides the reforms initiated by tourism 2020, other reforms include; the taxi industry reform established owing to the range of transport users in Victoria being diverse. This created a need for a multi-modal transport system. Tourists need fast and efficient, safe transportation to their intended destinations. The support system should be of high quality in order to promote the competitive nature of this industry. This is why there was introduction of an adequate and reliable taxi services. The driver for this reform was the undersupply of transport services which resulted in much complaints being raised owing to the long waiting time. The federal government thus embrace the recommendation for the increment in hire vehicles and taxis. An adequate supply was necessary to ensure that the quality of vehicle and driver was improved and that of safety of driver and consumer (Vtic, 2012). The drivers are also b expected to be aware of the directions to tourist destination sites to enable them to get there with ease. In order to attain the tourist 2020 initiative, the industry has called upon the federal government to continue with the Passenger Movement Charge freeze, intervene on emerging markets (e.g. China and Indonesia) to reduce the visa costs and the continued investment on streamlining the application process for Visas (Atec.net.au, 2016). In order to grow the visitor economy, Sherry (2015) noted that the NSW government has been ambitious on improving its infrastructure to make the navigation easier and attractive to tourists. In additional to the good climate, the Australian economy has beautiful beaches and parks. Also a city like Sydney is a home for facilities that are best known in the world, top-class cultural institutions and exhibition and new international convention center. Recommendations An increment in vehicles for hire and taxi services is one of the causes of high traffic in the Australian roads and thus the government should improve the road systems in order to contain the traffic. The government should ensure a massive growth of this sector by identifying all the factors that hinders the flow of international tourists to the economy and eliminating them. Conclusion In the tourism industry, the Austrades has a role of policy development, growing the market share of Australian tourism through research provision and the attraction of investments. The reforms that has already been put in place have seen development in this industry. However, the fight is still on as there is still a higher potential for development. Since the world is changing into a dynamic global environment, there is a need for a growth framework that will enhance continuous adaptation of the tourism industry to such changes in order to maintain its future competition power. The development of this industry will result in more job opportunities in the future. References Atec.net.au. (2016). Tourism Industry Roundtable Communique. [Online] Available at: https://www.atec.net.au/ATEC/Document_Library/TOURISM_INDUSTRY_ROUNDTABLE_COMMUNIQUE.aspx [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017]. Austrade.gov.au. (2017). Maximizing tourism's contribution to the Australian economy. [Online] Available at: https://www.austrade.gov.au/australian/tourism [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017]. Hooper, K. and Zyl, M. (2017). Australia's Tourism Industry. [Online] rba.gov.au. Available at: https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2011/dec/pdf/bu-1211-3.pdf [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017]. OECD, (2012). OECD tourism trends and policies 2012. 1st ed. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation Development. Sherry, A. (2015). Australias tourism industry needs innovation and big ideas to continue to grow. [Online] Dailytelegraph.com.au. Available at: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australias-tourism-industry-needs-innovation-and-big-ideas-to-continue-to-grow/news-story/53078ef6405ad0c433612722c6fdbde7 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017]. Theobald, W. (2013). Global Tourism. 1st ed. Routledge. Tourism.australia.com. (2017). Tourism 2020. [Online] Available at: https://www.tourism.australia.com/about-us/tourism2020.aspx [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017]. Tradingeconomics.com. (2017). Australia Tourist Arrivals | 1976-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast. [Online] Available at: https://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/tourist-arrivals [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017]. Vtic, (2012). Taxi Industry Reform Recommendations Welcomed by Tourism and Events - Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC). [Online] Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC). 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