INSIDE TOURISM – CHOOSE SUCCESS OVER APATHY!

CEO of the Tourism Export Council Lesley Immink welcomes the NTP and believes that any naysayers of “we’ve been here before need to change their mindset and if they aren’t going to help the cause, then they need to get out of the way”. The NTP led by Martin Snedden has CEO’s from across the public and private sector talking with each other and this I believe is the first time in anytime of tourism history that there is a willingness for all parties to work on a longer term goal of improved profitability and yield, led by the private sector. The government has invested in us with new tourism marketing dollars and MBIE have innovation and technology funding to assist with facilitation and productivity. Will it be a perfect plan and everyone happy? Absolutely not, and for some private sector companies they might even have to suck a few kumaras for the greater good of the plan. The purpose of the plan is to increase our bottom line margins ahead of the organic growth that is likely to occur with regular good business practises. However if we choose to be sceptical about it potentially not working, then that is likely to be the result.

The biggest challenge faced is the plan surviving not only political change but tourism industry leadership change. In the next 12 months we need to work as smart and cohesively as possible to get the plan bedded down so that the various sectors of the industry know when and how they can work within the plan for their own growth strategies in the next decade.

The Tourism Export Council has changed its way of thinking in recent years. It has not only accepted the changes in distribution channels but are actively working on maximising  how they can best work in the dynamic space of pricing and  booking channels. If the ‘old boys network’ can do it, then the industry ‘glass half empty’ opinionaters, can do it too.