Unions threaten to shoot down a $94bn industry

DAILY TELEGRAPH, OCTOBER 12, 2011:  GEOGRAPHY means Australia is highly reliant on aviation. Our location and isolation mean that almost all our international visitors arrive by air, while the sheer size of our country means we depend on air travel to get around.

Without airline operations, our tourism industry would suffer, with many destinations cut off. That's precisely what happened in 1989.

I saw first-hand the impact of that year's pilots' strike when I was working in the Whitsundays.

With no planes flying, the visitors simply stopped coming. With no visitors, staff were laid off and the resorts all but shut their doors. And, while the big operators were hard hit, that was nothing compared to the small businesses which dominate the tourism industry. These people had their livelihoods destroyed through no fault of their own and the effects on the tourism industry, more broadly, were felt for years.

Industrial action has a negative impact on our reputation as a tourism destination. That's something we can ill-afford.

The disruption caused by ongoing strikes is directly affecting one of our biggest and most influential groups of potential supporters and salespeople -- international tourists currently in Australia who, instead of taking with them tales of adventure and fun, will go home to their families and friends with stories of days wasted and trips interrupted by the actions of select individuals using them as pawns in an ongoing industrial dispute.

That's not the ``word of mouth'' we want to be sending overseas.

Australia's tourism industry faces enough external challenges without having to deal with unnecessary strife from within.

Over recent years we have faced illnesses like SARS, bird flu and swine flu. Travel schedules across the world have been thrown into chaos by natural disasters like the volcanoes in Iceland and Chile.

Australia has been hit by bushfires, floods and cyclones which caused devastation, destroying natural attractions and tourism infrastructure as well as putting off potential visitors.

The economy also plays a role. The global financial crisis hit international travel, while the struggles in Europe and the US have seen arrivals from those markets fall. Arrivals from Asia are growing, but we don't want the experience of these visitors marred by short-sighted unions.

More importantly, let's not forget domestic travellers, who account for almost three-quarters of tourism spending. We are already seeing Australians travelling internationally in record numbers, so threats of ongoing domestic disruption are hardly likely to encourage them to holiday at home instead.

Australia is undergoing a period of great change and companies have to survive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Those businesses which acknowledge the threats and take steps to adapt to the changing conditions are the ones which will survive. Those which don't face an uncertain future.

Short memories among union leaders could see history repeat itself, and no one wants to see a repeat of 1989, which cost the tourism industry dearly. But, if the current dispute drags on, direct federal government intervention may be required. If continued industrial action threatens travel over Christmas, that would make the case for a national interest test to be applied.

The livelihoods of the half a million people directly employed in Australia's $94 billion tourism industry depend on it.