Top Sydney hotel GMs assemble for special industry briefing
Focus on City of Sydney vision and cruise industry developments tabled at gathering
In another sign the merger between the Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) and Accommodation Association (AA) is rapidly approaching, both organisations have pooled resources to stage a special industry briefing in Sydney attracting 25 of Sydney’s top hotel general managers and senior staff.
Taking place at the Radisson Blu Sydney, the event gave City of Sydney CEO, Monica Barone and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Managing Director, Joel Katz an opportunity to update the gathering on both organisations’ ongoing activities.
Ms Barone shared council’s vision for the city based around a ‘Green, global, connected’ theme while Mr Katz’s presentation included an update on the current cruise industry which he said was looking bright with consumer sentiment already at pre-COVID levels.
The perennial debate surrounding another international cruise terminal for Sydney was raised in a Q&A session along with an update on the new cruise berthing arrangements on the far South Coast at Eden which have proven highly successful.
TAA CEO, Michael Johnson said the luncheon was a great opportunity for the general managers and senior hotel staff to learn important information from the people making the decisions at the City of Sydney and for the re-emerging cruise industry.
Accommodation Association CEO, Richard Munro welcomed the collaboration between AA and TAA, but pointed to the ongoing labour shortage which is continuing to bite hard.
“While we get all this demand in, we just can’t reach our targets because we just don’t have the labour.”
Both Mr Johnson and Mr Munro also updated the gathering on their efforts working with the new Federal Government to try and further address the shortage, especially on the back of the recent labour agreement pushed by TAA and the Australian Hotels Association.
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
