Broome Tourism Leadership Group Update

Written on the 27 September 2017

The Broome Tourism Leadership Group which was established to send a signal of "alignment" to the Barnett Government will transition from a majority Institutional membership to majority Industry membership to continue to focus on the pressing issues and drive actions. 

Originally established in 2015, The Broome Tourism Leadership Group was formed following recommendations of the 2014 Broome Tourism Strategy commissioned by the Shire of Broome and conducted by Haeberlin consulting. The executive summary of this strategy stated the following:
We need a refreshed and revitalised brand that we can leverage to better attract our target market
We need to make it easier and less expensive to get to Broome via air
Once here, there are significant improvements that we can make for visitors in terms of experience, infrastructure and product
All of these elements need to be addressed in order for Broome to be successful
We are willing to support efforts on all of these fronts
We need a strong and representative leadership body to align us all in our efforts and drive Broome forward

The Leadership Group is one of the six strategic pillars from this research that sits alongside the other pillars which include Brand, Aviation, Infrastructure, Visitor Experience, Product & Events.

Since being formed the Leadership Group commissioned further research called Broome & the Kimberley: current Perceptions and Future Direction (2016) as an initial measure of action toward addressing the brand and visitor experience pillars.  The Group also set out to align key institutional bodies to operate more collaboratively to support the tourism industry through monthly meetings, including Australia's North West Tourism, Broome Visitor Centre, Broome Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Shire of Broome and Nyamba Buru Yawuru. The alignment was well received by government who have often called on the Group to understand challenges and opportunities of the industry.

Stepping aside from his role as Chair to make way for an independent, Cygnet Bay Pearl's James Brown looks forward to seeing tourism businesses now take the lead through this Group.

"Tourism currently has its time in the sun from a state government perspective, and by elevating key decision makers from the business world the Group will have a strong awareness of business conditions to provide outcomes that lead to prompt actions.

"There is a lot of "low hanging fruit" that a combined industry group could start tackling without waiting for government or someone else to fix the issue"

"There is no true data that tracks our industry performance, and we have to be the only major sector which has no projections to plan for.  Considering tourism represents 30% of Broome's traded economy this is not acceptable and we hope to motivate the industry to take on this leadership," said James.

To progress into its new body, the Group will host a series of tourism business breakfasts to dissect industry feedback on the 2017 season and gather actions for forward planning.  The first of this series will be held on Wednesday 11 October to talk about adventure, aviation and activity tourism and will be attended by the Shire, Broome Visitor Centre, Broome Chamber and Australia's North West Tourism to listen and answer questions in the room.
The Broome Chamber of Commerce & Industry is secretariat for the Broome Tourism Leadership Group.  Industrial members of the Group currently includes:

James Brown Cygnet Bay Pearls
Michael Leake Habitat Resort
Warwick Rock APT
Danielle Hart Kimberley Accommodation

Six positions on the Broome Tourism Leadership Group are now open and a cross section of operators representing drive, aviation, adventure and indigenous tourism businesses are sought.  Expressions of interest should be sent to ceo@broomechamber.com.au.