Mining "is not the enemy"
The mining industry is not the enemy of tourism and should be viewed as an opportunity, Tourism Queensland chief Anthony Hayes has declared.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Australian Tourism Export Council symposium yesterday, Hayes said the two industries can reap economic benefits by working together.
“We’ve got used to thinking mining is the enemy because they keep stealing our people and paying them three times as much and we’re cranky about that, but there are opportunities,” Hayes said.
The potential for cross-industry benefits are already being realised in parts of Australia, he added.
“We are starting to see the money from Central Queensland flowing through to our tourism resorts for weekends and weeks off, it gets the cash flow going through our operators again,” Hayes said.
The growth of inland wealth and population is causing a shift in where tourists are coming from, he continued.
“Instead of people going south to north for a holiday we can get them to go west to east and fill up Hayman Island and Heron and Airlie Beach.”
Minister for Resources and Tourism, Martin Ferguson, stressed that mining is a big wealth creator but not a big employer.
“Tourism is a big employer and it is challenged by the resources sector but we will get through this challenge,” Ferguson said.
Peter Lloyd, executive director of Quadrant Australia, said a geological congress in Brisbane that will host more than four thousand delegates in August is a good example of mutual industry benefits.
“I think that’s a really good example of where mining is directly contributing to regional tourism,” Lloyd said.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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