New CEO for NTA
The National Tourism Alliance was pleased to announce that Ms Jenny Lambert has taken up the position as CEO effective 26th November, 2007. 

NTA Chairman Col Hughes said “Jenny Lambert has the experience, knowledge and industry network to make a great success of this role. She is former head of Restaurant and Catering Australia, the Meeting Industry Association and most recently the Nursery Industry Association. Prior to her stints as CEO, Jenny also worked at the national office of the Australian Hotels Association, working as their industrial relations and policy advocate and also with Tourism Training Australia, working on workplace reform and on-job competency assessment.

She has a great understanding of the Tourism Industry and vast experience in ensuring that the views of industry are understood by all sides of politics”.  Mr Hughes said.

The appointment is timely because the Tourism industry will need to work collaboratively over the next 12 months as it seeks to establish relationships with the Rudd Labor Government.

NTA Welcomes New Minister
Following the announcement of the new Rudd Government Ministry in late November, the NTA welcomed the appointment of Martin Ferguson as the Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism, and congratulated him and the Government on their electoral success.

NTA Chair, Col Hughes said, “We are delighted to see Minister Ferguson secure the Tourism portfolio as he has strong knowledge of our industry through his time as the Shadow Minister. We also acknowledge that the Prime Minister has honoured the pre-election commitment to our industry by making the Tourism portfolio a Cabinet position. It is a great start to what we hope will be a strong relationship between the Rudd Government and the tourism industry”, Col Hughes said.

Issues on the agenda for tourism are significant, including labour and skill shortages, the challenges of climate change, a high Australian dollar and intense international competition to attract tourists. CEO for the NTA, Jenny Lambert said “we look forward to working with the new Tourism Minister and with other Ministers in portfolios relating to our industry on these important issues. It should be the aim of both Government and industry to find workable solutions and improvements that will lead to a stronger tourism industry.”

NTA Members Affirm Key National Issues
At a meeting of members of the National Tourism Alliance (NTA) in December, key tourism industry leaders affirmed their top hit list of key national issues and concerns. With the election of the new Rudd Labor Government, it was perfect timing to review the priorities of Australia’s peak national tourism body, to ensure that NTA stays focused on those issues collectively identified as being the most important.

Not surprisingly, number one on the list was labour and skill shortages. Due to the proactive strategies of key NTA members such as Restaurant & Catering Australia, and the AHA, this issue is already being strongly addressed. However, the barriers and concerns are many and complex, including the changing desires of the younger generation, low unemployment, filling regional positions and wage and conditions structures. NTA’s role will primarily be to highlight the significant negative impact this issue is having on providing consistently good service to tourists, and to support the work being done by its members.

The other key issues identified by members include climate change and sustainable tourism, funding for the Tourism CRC, marketing funds for Tourism Australia, and the image of the tourism industry in the public, media and government. The image issue needs to make the industry more appealing and relevant to everyday Australians, rather than it just being seen as a leisure industry for the well off.

NTA Meetings with Key Department Heads in Canberra
Prior to Xmas, CEO Jenny Lambert met with the new Deputy Secretary of the new department, John Ryan, and also Philip Noonan, head of the Tourism Division. Philip is assisting the new Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson, set up his office post-election and as such was able to shed light on the Government’s new agenda and transitional issues.

The meeting with John Ryan revealed that the Budgetary process has been truncated by 2 months. The environment for new spending initiatives not included in the pre-election promises will be very scant – in other words it is unlikely that the Government will commit to new spending not already on their list.

The meeting with Noonan indicated that Minister’s position in Cabinet will have both positive and negative impacts. The positive ones are obvious in terms of being fully included in all key government initiatives and able to wield influence on other portfolios.

Issues raised by the members at their December meeting were canvassed with both Noonan and Ryan and NTA looks forward to an open and active dialogue on these and other matters of relevance to the industry. Further meetings will take place in January with key Ministers and bureaucrats, and will be in support of the tourism industry’s pre-budget submission. Already the Tourism Minister’s office has been in contact with NTA to confirm a meeting date.