Tourism: The simple answer, We don’t measure up

We don’t measure up, is the simple answer for the failure of tourism in Tasmania. The industry is controlled by the same people who controlled tourism in the early 90’s, when Tourism was a failure and again when it was revamped by Bacon in the last years of the nineties.

The industry thinks that the Fosters group is relevant or that backpackers aren’t. The minister is usually a mental elf in training to be something else. The previous Minister O’Byrne was incapable of expressing herself without a minder to place the words into her mouth.

I asked the minister on radio, ‘where are the backpackers’, her response was to talk about a failed $20 million campaign on ‘local secrets’. Minister O’Byrne had no idea and was probably happy to leave the portfolio as it was demeaning. The current minister Bacon is like a kid trying to learn how to ride a bike. No ideas, no initiative, no money and an industry TICT board caught in the 1970’s, still congratulating itself on having the first casino.

Yet New Zealand, a similar market, is creating export earning wealth out of their misfortunes. We as an end destination have a very similiar profile but we lose out in almost every comparison.

This is mainly because of the self congratulatory leadership and the unremarkable tourism ministry.

Simon Currant, the long term chair of the TICT, is so past his use by date that he should own up to 20 years of (in my opinion, below average performance) in leading the industry and retire gracefully with a big meaningless award.

Indeed to improve the outcomes, the industry should give him another big award and say goodbye.

The industry will at least have a chance of some rejuvenation, instead of the slow slide backwards that has been occurring in the past 20 years.

The final reality of tourism in Tasmania is its overblown self opinion and its missing relationship with successful tourism enclaves.

To continually harp we are the best in the world, ignores the fact that all over this country from Noosa and Broome to the Leisure Coast (Wollongong), the same industry try-hards are competing for the dollar and they think they are wonderful.

Yet the Tasmanians without question think they are wonderful and need not try as hard, because, well erh, arh, ‘we are wonderful’.

Doh.

This comment was first made on this article, HERE: Tasmania verdant with Green tourism