Drysdale stand alone push

Visitors hit 1.32m as industries lobby for change

PEAK tourism and hospitality industry bodies have renewed their push for specialist training college Drysdale to be removed from TasTAFE and run as an independent academy.

Both sectors yesterday argued standards had slipped at the once world-renowned Drysdale since it was absorbed into broader TAFE operations more than 10 years ago.

The only option, the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Tasmanian Hospitality Association said, was for the government to pursue its pledge to have Drysdale industry-led.

TICT chief executive Luke Martin said Drysdale needed a stand-alone board, budget and chief executive to better embed with the tourism hospitality industries and address skills shortages.

Up to 700 jobs would be created across new hotels Hobart and Launceston in coming years, Mr Martin said, underlining the need for a strong tourism and hospitality training college.

“Despite the fact we’ve had a tourism and hospitality boom, we’ve got a training provider that’s at risk of becoming a liability for TasTAFE,” Mr Martin said. “We need to get on with it.”

THA chief executive Steve Old said he hoped the government would soon announce its intentions for Drysdale.

A report released in 2017 led to the establishment of a dedicated Drysdale committee within TasTAFE and saw the government and Opposition adopt a recommendation that the academy be overseen by its own board of industry representatives.

“We’d like to see Drysdale become its own entity again … so we can see outcomes and get people into jobs,” Mr Old said.

Mr Old said he was pleased with the conversations surrounding Drysdale over the past year, but acknowledged the industry’s disappointment with the college’s preceding decade.

Drysdale has campuses in Launceston, Hobart and Devonport.

TasTAFE was contacted for comment.

Premier and Tourism Minister Will Hodgman said the government wanted to get more out of the public sector training service.

“We want to make sure that Drysdale is restored to one of the nation’s pre-eminent tourism and hospitality training providers,” he said.

“That’s why we’re investing more into capital there, to improve the facilities but also to ensure that Drysdale has an industry-led focus with industry representation.”

The industry groups’ calls follow new data from the Tasmania Visitor Survey showing the state welcomed 1.32 million visitors in the year to December last year — up 4 per cent on the previous year.

Almost 70 per cent of all visitor nights were spent outside Hobart.