Establishing the Nrthern Australian Turism Initiative Discussin Paper December 2015 www.industry.gv.au
Cntents 1. Intrductin... 3 Purpse... Errr! Bkmark nt defined. Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative Overview... 3 Single Business Service... 3 2. Entrepreneurs Prgramme Business Management... 4 Turism Business Evaluatin... 4 Turism Partnerships... 4 Turism Supply Chains... 4 Turism Grwth Services... 4 Turism Grwth Grant... 4 Entrepreneurs Prgramme Eligibility... 5 Entrepreneurs Prgramme Adviser Netwrk... 6 3. Australian Small Business Advisry Services (ASBAS) prgramme... 7 4. Defining a Turism Business... 8 5. Defining Nrthern Australia... 9 Prmting the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative... 10 Having yur say... 10 Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 2
1. Intrductin The Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative prvides advice and facilitatin services t imprve the business capabilities and netwrks f nrthern turism businesses s that they can better capture grwth pprtunities. The Gvernment has cmmitted $13.6 millin t fund the delivery f services t turism businesses in nrthern Australia. This cnsultatin paper prvides details f the Initiative s prpsed services and seeks feedback frm stakehlders. It fcuses n the verarching service ffering, and prvides stakehlders with the pprtunity t prvide input. T ensure businesses are able t access the supprt they need t grw, initial services in the business management streams will begin in early 2016. These services may be refined fllwing the stakehlder cnsultatin and cnfirmed as part f the final Initiative design. Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative Overview The Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative was intrduced as part f the Our Nrth, Our Future: White Paper n Develping Nrthern Australia. 1 AusIndustry will deliver a range f business services t turism businesses in nrthern Australia. There will be tw elements t establishing the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative: 1. expansin f the Entrepreneurs Prgramme t build business pprtunities by encuraging and assisting small and medium businesses cnnect t knwledge, resurces and netwrks; and 2. additinal services thrugh the Australian Small Business Advisry Services prgramme (ASBAS) which ensures small business have access t prfessinal and lw cst advice is imprtant t ensure success at any stage, frm start-up t expansin. The Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative fcuses n prviding business advisry supprt t businesses. Every business needs different supprt, and services will be tailred t ensure they get the right supprt at the right time. Many nrthern Australian turism businesses will be Indigenus businesses. Therefre, Business Advisers will be selected fr their ability t wrk with Indigenus businesses. Single Business Service AusIndustry cnnects Australian businesses with infrmatin and advice t help them innvate, grw and be cmpetitive. Businesses can nw get infrmatin and help thrugh ne website, ne cntact centre and ur natinal netwrk t: Get a business up and running. Develp and cmmercialise ideas and prducts. Imprve, innvate and grw a business. Reach new markets. 1 Nrthern Australia White Paper, 18 June 2015 http://industry.gv.au/ona/whitepaper/index.html Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 3
2. Entrepreneurs Prgramme Business Management The Business Management element f the Entrepreneurs Prgramme helps CEOs and managers take time ut t wrk n their business rather than in their business. Supprted by Business Advisers drawn frm the private sectr, businesses will develp explicit plans fr imprvement and will be able t access limited funding t bring in additinal specialists. By fcusing n what the business needs, Business Advisers can als cnnect businesses t ther gvernment prgrammes. Services include: Turism Business Evaluatin A Turism Business Evaluatin is a range f services initially cmprising an evaluatin by a Business Adviser t tailr the service t the business s needs, based n the business s capacity, cmmitment and need t undertake significant imprvements. Fllwing this assessment a business may receive ne r mre f the fllwing: a) business imprvement advice and referrals; b) a detailed analysis f its business by a Business Adviser and recmmendatins fr imprvement presented in a Business Evaluatin Actin Plan; and c) supprt fr implementatin f the Business Evaluatin Actin Plan with the assistance f a Business Adviser. Turism Partnerships Turism Partnerships include a range f services delivered t a grup f businesses t facilitate and encurage jint marketing and/r packaging f cmplementary prducts and services (e.g. meals, accmmdatin, activities, transprt). A Business Facilitatr will develp a Turism Partnership Plan including recmmendatins fr imprvement fr participating businesses. Turism Supply Chains Turism Supply Chain Facilitatin includes a range f services delivered t a business t facilitate access t supply chain pprtunities in the Turism Sectr. Participants may attend Custmer Cnnectins events r undertake a Supplier Imprvement Plan t imprve their capability in meeting supply requirements. Turism Grwth Services Grwth Services include a range f services that supprt a business, ver an extended engagement, t achieve grwth thrugh strategic business imprvements and cnnectins. A Business Adviser cnducts initial grwth pprtunity and capability analyses, develps a tailred and agreed Grwth Plan, prvides access t specialist Business Advisers and Business Facilitatrs, and brkers cnnectins t experts and prviders t assist the business t capitalise n its grwth pprtunities. Turism Grwth Grant A Turism Grwth Grant reimburses a business fr up t half f the cst f engaging a cnsultant (up t a maximum Grant f $20,000) t make business imprvements that were recmmended in the Turism Business Evaluatin, Supplier Imprvement Plan, Grwth Plan r Turism Partnership Plan. Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 4
Entrepreneurs Prgramme Eligibility In additin t the usual eligibility criteria fr each service, t be eligible fr Services under Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative an applicant must: a) be an Eligible Crpratin 2 that is nn tax-exempt and is registered fr GST; b) be lcated and/r have significant peratins in nrthern Australia; (refer Page 9) c) satisfy the criteria t be a turism business; (refer Page 8) d) have an annual turnver r perating expenditure between $750,000 and $100 millin; e) be slvent; f) have perated in Australia and filed business activity statements shwing nging trading in at least three cnsecutive years ; g) satisfy the eligibility criteria specific t the relevant Activity (refer Page 4); and h) nt be named by the Wrkplace Gender Equality Agency as an rganisatin that has nt cmplied with the Wrkplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth). The fllwing entities are ineligible t apply fr the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative Entrepreneurs Prgramme services: a) individuals; b) partnerships; c) trusts, except fr trusts with trustees that are Eligible Crpratins; and d) Cmmnwealth, State and Lcal Gvernment agencies and bdies (including gvernment business enterprises, federal, state/territry and lcal turism bdies and reginal turism rganisatins (RTOs)). A grup r cnsrtium f turism businesses can access Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative Entrepreneurs Prgramme services, including a Turism Grwth Grant that will benefit a grup f turism businesses. 2 Eligible Crpratin a crpratin incrprated under the Crpratins Act 2001 (Cth) will be an eligible crpratin fr the purpses f the Prgramme if its trading activities: a) frm a sufficiently significant prprtin f its verall activities as t merit it being described as a trading crpratin; r b) are a substantial and nt merely peripheral activity f the crpratin. Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 5
Entrepreneurs Prgramme Adviser Netwrk The Entrepreneurs Prgramme is delivered thrugh a natinal netwrk f apprximately 100 Business Advisers and Facilitatrs. Up t fur Turism Business Advisers will be engaged thrugh existing Industry Partner arrangements. Turism businesses are nt spread evenly thrughut nrthern Australia, therefre, the lcatins f turism Business Advisers will be selected t apprximate the distributin f eligible turism businesses. The chart belw shws numbers f turism small businesses in turism regins acrss nrthern Australia. This data suggests that turism small businesses are mre numerus in Queensland (75%) fllwed by Nrthern Territry (19.4%) and Western Australia (7%). Chart 1: Small turism businesses (1-19 emplyees) in nrthern Australia, June 2013 40% 35% 34% 30% 25% 20% 19% 15% 10% 5% 0% 11% 10% 7% 6% 6% 4% 2% 1% 1% 0.3% 0.1% Surce: Turism Research Australia, Turism Businesses in Australia, June 2010 t June 2013 Discussin questin: Where shuld the Turism Business Advisers be lcated? Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 6
3. Australian Small Business Advisry Services (ASBAS) Prgramme The bjective f the ASBAS Prgramme is t imprve the capacity f established, nt-fr-prfit small business advisry service prviders t deliver lw cst small business advisry and infrmatin services. In early 2016, a new ASBAS funding rund will be pened t supprt the Gvernment s plans fr develping turism in Nrthern Australia thrugh imprving the capacity f advisry service prviders t deliver lw cst advisry services t turism-related small businesses in the nrth. Eligibility fr this targeted turism rund will align with previus ASBAS funding runds. Applicants will need t meet the eligibility criteria utlined in the Ministerial Guidelines. Eligible small business advisry service prviders must be: businesses which prvide business advisry services and which are crpratins within the meaning f s51(xx) f the Australian Cnstitutin; r businesses whse peratins are entirely carried ut in a Territry. In additin, the small business advisry service prviders must: be a nt-fr-prfit; be incrprated r registered under a relevant law f the Cmmnwealth, State r Territry; have an Australian Business Number (ABN); and be an established Business Enterprise Centre r a Registered Business Organisatin. Thrugh this activity, ASBAS aims t ensures small business have access t prfessinal and lw cst advice which is imprtant t ensure their success at any stage, frm start-up t expansin. Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 7
4. Identifying a Turism Business Turism businesses are defined as businesses that must: 1. derive a significant prtin f their revenue frm visitrs 3 ; and 2. perate in turism-related industries 4 including accmmdatin; cafes, restaurants and takeaway fd services; clubs, pubs, taverns and bars; passenger transprt; tur peratr services; cultural services; sprts and recreatin services; and retail trade. Nte: In relatin t the ASBAS prgramme, the ASBAS prvider will be able t prvide services t existing turism small businesses and turism small business intenders (that is, businesses lking t mve int turism). Discussin questins: Hw wuld a business demnstrate whether their custmers fit the definitin f visitrs, especially fr businesses in majr twn centres with a significant lcal market? Is this definitin flexible enugh t include businesses that primarily perate in ther sectrs (e.g. agriculture) that still derive significant revenue frm visitrs (e.g. a farm-stay turism peratin r a crcdile farm, which derive significant revenue frm visitrs/turs)? Wuld this definitin unintentinally capture businesses that shuld nt be cnsidered turism businesses (e.g. mining camp accmmdatin and catering services, a schl bus cmpany r cmmuter public transprt, a lcal grcery stre)? Shuld travel agents be included fr ASBAS given their rle as intermediaries/resellers f turism prducts and services? 3 A visitr is defined as...a traveller taking a trip t a main destinatin utside his/her usual envirnment, fr less than a year, fr any main purpse (business, leisure r ther persnal purpse) ther than t be emplyed by a resident entity in the cuntry r place visited. (Internatinal Recmmendatins fr Turism Statistics 2008, para 2.9); and usual envirnment is made up f ne r mre areas in which a persn undertakes their regular activities such as their place f residence, place f wrk, place f study and ther places frequently visited. Further, lcatins up t 40 kilmetres frm hme fr vernight trips and up t 50 kilmetres frm hme (rund trip) fr day trips are included in a visitr's usual envirnment in the Turism Satellite Accunt (ABS cat. n. 5249.0). 4 turism-related industries includes turism-characteristic industries and turism-cnnected industries accrding t the turism industry classificatin in the Turism Satellite Accunt (ABS cat. n. 5249.0) Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 8
5. Defining Nrthern Australia Nrthern Australia is defined as per the Our Nrth, Our Future: White Paper n Develping Nrthern Australia. 5 Surce: Our Nrth, Our Future: White Paper n Develping Nrthern Australia, July 2015 (pg 18). Discussin questins: Hw shuld services be delivered t businesses that perate bth in nrthern Australia and in ther parts f Australia? (e.g. a natinal htel chain, r an interstate bus service) eligibility wuld be assessed in relatin t the business s Australian peratins (e.g. revenue threshlds wuld apply t the whle business); and Entrepreneurs Prgramme services wuld fcus n the nrthern Australian cmpnent f the business s peratins. 5 Nrthern Australia White Paper, 18 June 2015 http://industry.gv.au/ona/whitepaper/index.html Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 9
Prmting the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative Hw can yu help prmte the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative t turism businesses thrughut Nrthern Australia? Are yu able t infrm yur member businesses f the Initiative? Having yur say Please prvide written feedback n the design f the Nrthern Australia Turism Initiative t EIPPrgManagement@industry.gv.au by cb 24 December 2015. We lk frward t receiving yur views. Further infrmatin abut the Entrepreneurs prgramme and ASBAS are available at www.business.gv.au. Establishment f Nrthern Turism industry.gv.au 10