Tourism plan welcomed; action call

NELSON: Tourism operators have welcomed a new plan to address the industry’s workforce woes, but want action, not just rhetoric.

Historically, the tourism and hospitality industries have earned a bad reputation for offering low wages, long hours and uncertainty.

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash yesterday unveiled the draft ‘‘better work action plan’’ that sought to change that perception, improve conditions and strengthen the workforce through regenerative tourism.

The industry was often a stepping stone, not a destination for many workers, Mr Nash said.

‘‘Many New Zealanders start their careers in tourism or a hospitality job, often . . . before they find ‘a real job’.

‘‘But we have done — I believe — a poor job of creating an aspirational career pathway in tourism for young people when they’re considering their employment options.’’

Speaking at the Tourism Export Council’s conference in Nelson, Mr Nash said it was time that changed and the plan would help them do that as part of an overall tourism transformation.

The plan includes a tourism and hospitality accord to set employment standards, better education, adopting technology to better futureproof the industry and improve workers’ experiences, developing cultural competency, and using seasonal fluctuations in demand to improve skills and provide more consistent work.

Some of the ideas, including the accord, were developed following a workforce forum last year.

Owner of iFly Queenstown Matt Wong said the plan set the industry on the right course.

‘‘I think the action plan is pretty much spot on with what we’re thinking as an industry anyway.

‘‘We’ve all been thinking about it probably for the last couple of years or so, and now that we’ve got some major issues with our labour force, it’s quite a timely reminder that actually as an industry we probably need to mature a little bit and address some of the labour issues that we’ve had for quite a few years.’’

Mr Wong wanted action as soon as possible but realised it would take time for everyone to get up to speed.

Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button said it was a great plan in theory but he wanted to see action.

‘‘All of that stuff is really nice to have on paper and clearly they’ve got a lot of really good brains involved, but now . . . the rubber has got to hit the road. It’s just about the implementation,’’ Mr Button said. — RNZ