Page 561 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 1990
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I am rather annoyed at Macklin's suggestion that the Government, through the Tourist Bureau, has been unable to respond to market forces in tourism. On the contrary, the bureau has been able to respond quickly when called upon. I suggest that the bureau has displayed a great deal more entrepreneurial flair than many other elements of the local tourism industry which are quite often bogged down by their own inflexible bureaucracies. By way of example, at the time of the pilots' strike the bureau quickly developed an advertising campaign - when I say "quickly", I mean within 24 hours; a feat that most advertising agencies could not match - which took advantage of the need for thousands of stranded holiday travellers to find alternative destinations. More recently, the bureau was the first State Government authority to see the opportunity inherent in the Federal Government tourism recovery program, and after negotiations with the industry it has mounted the first ever television promotion for Canberra. The bureau's flexibility has been recognised by tourism industry leaders throughout Australia.
I should like to read from a press statement issued by the President of the CVCB, Mr Barry Simon, following Macklin's article. I quote:
The industry through a number of associations have contributed to pay for prime time television advertisements selling Canberra to outside markets. This is an exciting and significant step which will benefit the industry and the ACT economy.
And, if I may paraphrase, the CVCB will not be sidetracked in its commitment to work with the bureau and later the commission and the Government to boost tourism spending in our region.
I congratulate Mr Simon on his objectivity. He was described in Macklin's article as one of a gang of five who are reported to have been responsible for revamping the tourism scene. I understand that Mr Simon has divorced himself from these divisive statements. Of course, Mr Simon has had a hand in attempting to improve our tourism industry as have many other members in both the government and the private sectors. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of improvement in the marketing of Canberra that could be done, but I think it is very important that all of us in this Assembly understand that in the Tourist Bureau we have a group of dedicated professionals. Due to an inevitable funding disadvantage compared to other States these people have learnt to find efficient and cost-effective ways in which to operate. These ways have certainly not been handicapped by an overly bureaucratic approach to the task of marketing Canberra. They have, however, been handicapped by a number of individuals who would seek to use tourism for their own ends.
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