Cr Paul Jarman, whose Henry’s Bridge Hotel hosted the tourism roundtable, with David LIttleproud.
The Littleproud tourism caravan rolled into Echuca Sunday night and headed for Bendigo on Monday morning in no doubt the tourism industry is expecting stronger advocacy to further unlock its potential.
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Federal Shadow Tourism Minister David Littleproud was told while everyone saw the region as an agricultural powerhouse, the visitor economy was almost as big.
Nationals candidate for Murray Plains Brett Hosking explained tourism injected almost $300 million into the local economy and directly employed around 1000 people.
Mr Hosking said with the region’s proven, and growing, visitor economy, strategic government investment and policy support could unlock further tourism growth, which would bring with it regional jobs and economic prosperity.
“Regional tourism needs a dependable workforce, and the industry continues to experience staffing challenges, and potential changes to migration settings under the working holidaymaker visas could create further uncertainty and that extends to horticulture, agriculture, hospitality, accommodation, food services and visitor attractions,” he said.
Campaspe Shire councillor and hotelier Paul Jarman – who hosted the meeting at his Henry’s Bridge Hotel – agreed, and said a dependable workforce supported business viability, visitor experiences, service standards and the broader regional economy.
Cr Jarman said “we need Canberra to improve appropriate access to regional and seasonal workers and better support the businesses which rely on them”.
“Tourism is not a standalone industry in Campaspe, it is connected to agriculture, hospitality, retail, accommodation, events, transport and the wider economy,” he added.
Nationals candidate for Murray Plains Brett Hosking and Murray Regional Tourism chief executive Cameron Sutton at the meeting with David Littleproud.
“Council is also working on initiatives, including a three-year destination marketing plan and funding, industry network and training, accreditation and awards mentoring, visitor precinct development, agritourism and major event attractions.
“We need government investment and policy support to build on this existing momentum.”
Mr Littleproud said Labor must fix the backpacker visa mess it had created for the tourism industry and provide clarity on the backpacker visa situation, not just for farmers but hospitality and tourism.
“The upcoming summer season is the busiest for the tourism industry in places such as Echuca-Moama, but thousands of tourism businesses simply cannot get the workers they need,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Labor needs to help our farmers as well helping our tourism operators.
“Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced changes to the backpacker intake. Year two will cut the backpacker intake from 57,000 to 45,000 [those eligible to stay in the country for a second year] and year three will cut from 31,000 to 5000. This is a cut in numbers over years two and three by more than 40 per cent.
“Labor has created this mess itself – now it must also fix it. So far, there is no clarity or explanation as to how our tourism businesses are supposed to cope over summer.”
Mr Littleproud said Labor's changes were set to decimate the tourism sector unless an urgent break-glass option was adopted.
David Littleproud with Echuca-Moama hospitality and tourism operators at Henry’s Bridge Hotel on Sunday night.
“Backpackers are an essential part of our tourism and hospitality sectors, and they provide a critical role in helping these businesses get through seasonal peaks when local workers aren’t available. For the Albanese Government to deliberately target this cohort is a disgrace,” he said.
“Australia's tourism industry has already endured a challenging year, which has been marred by federal funding cuts, public fuel anxiety, visa processing pauses and delays, high operating costs and endless red tape.
“Slashing Australia’s backpacker intake will only make a difficult situation worse for Australia’s hardworking tourism operators. The Albanese Government must immediately step in to provide targeted support for this crucial industry.”
