Andrea Forsyth
Business Consultant
175A Woolooware Rd
Burraneer NSW 2230
M: 0421 4464 90
E:
5 September 2008
The Secretary
Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks
GPO Box 7050
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Sir/s
Tourism and National Parks in New South Wales
Submission
I welcome the opportunity of putting forth this submission. The fact that this Taskforce has been established is of itself a wonderful step forward to establish that delicate balance of sustainable tourism in national parks whilst protecting the environment.
I feel well qualified to put forward this submission.
I have a business located in the SnowyMountains very closely located to the KosciuszkoNational Park. I moved from Sydney four years ago due to a love of the region and the challenge of establishing a business.
My business in the Snowy Mountais remains however I have returned to Sydney to pursue further business opportunities.
During my time in the SnowyMountains I was very involved with the Regional Tourism Organization, TourismSnowyMountains. I held the role of Executive Officer of Tourism Snowy Mountains for two years, leaving to return to Sydney in April 2008.
TourismSnowyMountains has a mandate to grow sustainable tourism and works very closely with State Government, Local Government, major stakeholders, members and the local community.
During my time with TourismSnowyMountains I worked very closely with National Parks and feel that I have a good understanding of the issues that are faced at both a strategic and local level.
I participated strongly in the John O’Neill Tourism Review and I read the report with interest.
The submission that I have prepared focuses on two levels.
Firstly I have a strong belief that the “brand” or identity of National Parks throughout NSW needs to be considered. I am not talking about a branding exercise for each of the 750 parks located in NSW, it is more about what a National Park is and what do these mean to all associated with or touched by it.
The reason that I have highlighted this is there is a fundamental problem with implementing change unless the culture of an organization is aligned with the “brand”. I believe there are very mixed messages within National Parks as an organization as to what a national park should be.
Put simply this is the conservationvs. tourism issue.
There is room for both and there should be. However unless cultural issues with National Parks as an organization are resolved changes will difficult to implement and may not be sustainable. A strong change management program is needed.
I believe that this should be addressed as a matter of urgency. I have not gone into detail on this but would be delighted to expand if the Taskforce feels I can be of assistance.
Secondly during this period of change there is a need for practical methods to be considered for boosting visitation now.
I have outlined some suggestions at a very high level. These suggestions really focus on Public Relations activities to lift the profile of the National Parks with some very limited product development suggestions.
If adopted those simple suggestions could get runs on the board and increase visitation in the short term.
The more complex and difficult issues surrounding culture, brand and change management could be addressed more easily if projects being implemented were simple and more likely to succeed.
One point that I would like to make strongly is that there is a model that exists within the management of the KosciuszkoNational Park that should be reviewed.
This model has a small section that focuses on Tourism and Business Development.
From my time with TourismSnowyMountains it was very clear that this model really worked with opening communications between the tourism community and National Parks in the Snowy Mountains Region.
From discussions with my colleagues in other Regional Tourism Organizations’ through out NSW it was clear that this solid working relationship was unique and assisted TourismSnowyMountains in achieving its goal of growing sustainable tourism in the region.
I would be delighted to be given the opportunity expand on any of the points that I have made if the are of interest and assistance to the Taskforce.
Kind Regards
Andrea Forsyth
1