Australia’s Tourism Heads Meet in Hobart

Media release – Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania (TICT), 27 November 2023

Tassie in the spotlight as nation’s tourism chiefs meet in Hobart

For the first time since 2019, the chiefs of the tourism industry councils across Australia have met in Tasmania.

The Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania (TICT) is hosting its state and territory counterparts in Hobart for the national body’s last meeting of the year, before heading into a busy summer period for the industry across the nation.

The CEO of the TICT, Amy Hills, said the Tasmanian based meeting is a chance for tourism leaders from across the country to hear about progress being made in the TICT’s nation leading Emissions Reductions Program and its connection with the Australian Tourism Industry Council’s (ATIC) Sustainable Tourism Accreditation Program.

“The TICT was the first tourism industry council in Australia to employ a dedicated carbon action advisor, and since then, the TICT has been rolling out a program to help tourism operators better understand their emissions profile and take steps to reduce it.

“The TICT Emissions Reduction Initiative, launched in August 2023, has so far channelled more than 76 Tasmanian tourism businesses into one of two programs designed to reduce business-related emissions.

“A total of 60 tourism businesses are currently going through Program 1: Net Zero Activation, while a total of 16 businesses are going through Program 2: Net Zero Advanced, which will help them to begin carbon accounting.

“So far, there have been a total of 235 emissions reduction actions committed to through Program 1, across 17 Emissions Reduction Action Plans,” Ms Hills said.

The TICT is calling for more operators to become involved free of charge, with the focus also on developing a workshop agenda that will support tourism and hospitality businesses to practically apply sustainability knowledge to business operations.

The Chair of ATIC, Evan Hall, said he welcomed the Australian Government’s National Sustainability Framework for the Visitor Economy which was adopted last Friday 24 November with the support of Tourism Ministers across the country.

“Our Sustainable Tourism Accreditation is the Australian tourism industries largest and longest running sustainability program, adopted by more than 3,000 tourism businesses national-wide.

“The TICT delivers the Sustainable Tourism Accreditation program with tourism operators in Tasmania and is now leading the way assisting businesses to reduce emissions.”

“ATIC congratulates Premier Jeremy Rockliff for supporting the Tasmanian industries sustainable tourism and emissions reduction programs, especially for small and medium tourism businesses across Tasmania.”

Since the CEOs of the TICs across the country came together in Tasmania in 2019, COVID-19 significantly impacted the industry, with operators showing incredible resilience to return to business and support the nation’s economy.

Policy priorities for ATIC, including the TICT, include ensuring competitive and affordable domestic aviation travel, the return of international travellers to Australia to pre-covid levels and ensuring the industry has the skilled workforce required for not only its immediate needs, but also for the future.