Speeches
Thursday, 27 March 2025
Tourism Industry Council of South Australia Reception for State Tourism Award Winners
Rod and I are delighted to welcome you to Government House to celebrate the winners of the State and recent national Tourism Awards which we were delighted to attend.
The list of the winning businesses, and their scope and diversity, gave Rod and me cause to reflect on our own recent tourism experiences, in no small part because we have often turned to the list of winners to chart our own personal tourism adventures since returning to South Australia.
You could say it’s our favourite travel guide.
The recent Adelaide Festival is of course one of our favourites, and Rod and I soaked up as many Festival and Fringe performances as we could - whether across the road at the Adelaide Festival Centre or further afield.
The Festival has rightly earned its place as the preeminent fixture in South Australia’s cultural and artistic life.
We have also loved walking along Sleep’s Hill Tunnel and becoming immersed in its history and incarnations from rail corridor, through being a safe store in World War II for valuables – including some from Government House - and later a mushroom farm. It was great to see it back again as a venue on the Fringe program this year.
Our wine blending session at the d’Arenberg Cube wouldn’t win us the Max Schubert Trophy, but gave us, as lovers of South Australian wine, an insight into the intricacies and skills involved in creating wine.
And what a quirky, spectacular building and beautiful vineyard setting in which to do so!
As patrons of Zoos SA, Rod and I are always enthused to visit Monarto Safari Park and are delighted to see it winning awards. We feel confident there will be many more.
Of course, there’s no denying that cost of living pressures are currently dampening the tourism industry as people reduce discretionary spending and operating costs rise.
Understandably, this is worrying to many in the industry, particularly small and family enterprises.
On the one hand while 32% of businesses surveyed in the December 2024 quarter TiCSA Tourism Barometer report are either worried or extremely worried, it is encouraging that 53% of the businesses are either extremely confident or confident in the outlook for their businesses over the next year.
I think, if I may venture a view, that the time for pre‑COVID comparisons has passed, the world has changed, and our challenge is to develop new models and paradigms fit for our times.
Tourism enterprises in South Australia - represented by the people in this room - consistently demonstrate the strength, resilience, hard work, and determination that will make this possible.
The national tourism awards last Friday shows that level of excellence abounds.
And factors such as 2024’s record-breaking cruise season, increased economic impact from major events such as LIV Golf Adelaide and AFL Gather Round, and the return of major international airlines Emirates and China Southern Airlines, create opportunities to work with.
Friends.
Thank you for creating wonderful experiences for people to explore, enjoy and experience South Australia, whether that’s in their own backyard, or by showing interstate or international visitors what makes our State special.
Congratulations on your passion for and commitment to the tourism industry. You are its lifeblood and its heart.
Thank you also to TiCSA for the role you play as the industry’s peak body for advocating and supporting our tourism businesses.
Congratulations to all the winners here today. You help make our State a vibrant destination.