Tourism accreditation scheme is just the ticket

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has welcomed the Federal Government's Budget announcement of a $5.5million commitment into a new National Tourism Accreditation Framework (NTAF), saying the move would help maintain Australia's position as one of the most desirable tourism destinations  in the world.

ATEC Managing Director Matt Hingerty said the four-year funding plan for the NTAF would help put quality control front and centre on the national tourism agenda, a move that ATEC, the peak industry body representing the $26billion Australian inbound tourism industry, has been advocating for years.

"In a world where an ever-greater proportion of tourism marketing is going online, the importance of quality control is more important than ever," Mr Hingerty said.

"We need a mechanism in place, similar to the Qualmark system in place in New Zealand, to ensure that the destinations, attractions and products we promote to the world are not only the absolute best we can offer, but that they are also rated accurately."

"It is incredibly important that Australia has high-quality tourism product in order to compete on the world stage," Mr Hingerty said.

"This new $5.5million program will hopefully ensure that that this is and remains the case." In other budget news, Mr Hingerty noted that Tourism Australia's budget had not been supplemented to cover the $9 million bought forward into the current year to fund marketing activities. 

"This will stretch Tourism Australia very thin over the next year, which they will be able to cope with if the  international status quo remains the same," Mr Hingerty said.