Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we know that it was announced yesterday that the
Northern Territory Government is going to be merging Tourism in
Tea and nt major events company. It's going to see
them become one entity called Tourism and Events n T.
It's in a bit to streamline operations and enhance the
territory's ability to market tourism and events. Now joining us
(00:22):
in the studio is the Department of Tourism CEO Susanna Bishop.
Good morning to you, Susannah.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Great to have you in the studio. Now, why is
this merger needed?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
While we do have two excellent organizations that play a
really critical role in a visiting economy, and it's not
just about delivering excellent events, it is about attracting new
money to the territory through visitation that then can power
all the things that we love and you know, businesses thriving,
new investment coming, more people wanting to come to the
(00:56):
NTE as well. So we feel that that integreet and
we'll just power both operations to new levels. And you know,
we know people save is not broken? Why fix it?
But I think also why not innovating more when we
have the ability to do so.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I suppose from an outsider looking in, and I know
you've been the head of NT Major Events as well,
so so you understand how they both work quite intimately,
I would imagine, But from an outsider looking in, I've
always looked at NT Major Events and thought they're so nimble,
and they're able to do things really quickly.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
They're able to get.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Things moving, you know, even throughout COVID and post COVID,
the ability to do that was a really great thing
that we saw. I suppose the worry that I have
is that NT Major Events now may get caught up
in the bureaucracy of being part of a government department.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I mean, are you worried that that's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yes, We've been working really hard since smart to make
sure that doesn't happen. So what we're moving is major
Events into the statutory body of tourism that sits within
the department. But it is a statutory body in its
own right, and there is legislative work being done by
government now to protect some of those nimbleness, their ability
(02:10):
to do certain things which will actually benefit tourism. At
the same time, has retained those abilities for major events.
So we're hope in that this becomes an improvement all around.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
What do you reckon some of those key benefits might be,
you know, in terms of the merger obviously, you know,
I'm assuming there may be some cost saving measures, maybe not,
But what do you think those benefits will be.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, it's certainly an exercise of strategic alignment and efficiency.
So you have two organizations, two boards, two distinct strategies.
Major events have evolved a lot over the years to
not just deliver events, but to start moving into a
visitation attraction. So suddenly you have potentially a lack of
(02:54):
cohesion into one bigger body trying to achieve that greater good.
So bringing both together, it's one board, one strategy, one focus,
and it really is about getting the dollar to go further,
but also that strategic alignment to deliver more for the territory.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, and I guess, you know, not to be critical
of tourism and tea in any way, but you know,
for myself, I suppose just coming back from New Zealand,
you see the ways in which different locations are so
innovative and so sort of forward thinking in some of
the different things that they do. I mean, you've got
people bungee jumping off cliff faces, You've got loose at
the top of mountains. You know, you've got all sorts
(03:32):
of things going on, and we're a very different location.
But I just wonder whether we need to get a
little bit more innovative in the way that we're doing
things tourism wise. You know, I'm thinking outside the box
a little.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah. Absolutely, I think it's a journey of continuous improvement.
We need the product, we need the visitation, and we
need investment. So the more we have visitation growth, or
the more we have awareness for the destination, the more
we attract the people than is business confidence, then you're
staying attracting investments. So we need to get the ecosystem
right and we need to get confidence right, and with
(04:07):
that certainty as well. It's really important because businesses will
invest if we know that there's good root access, that
there's good visitation for cast year round, and that's when
everything starts moving. We are releasing shortly some really good
steady numbers of growth for visitation, especially international as well
(04:27):
as domestic. So there's been a lot of growth over
the past year. We want to keep that momentum. We
want to keep that visitation move in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Now, what about with some of those smaller events.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
So I know that inta major events have helped some
of those smaller events, maybe not sort of you know,
been right in there helping, but certainly providing some funding
and some assistance to some of those smaller events. Is
that going to be able to continue to happen with
this merger.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Absolutely. I'm a big believer that the place you like
to visit is the place you like to visit to live,
and I think that that that is part of the
fabric of the destination is those leader events is going
to Alice Springs and being part of something that's very
community like the Benny Festival. Well, there's so much richness
(05:12):
on that that budget allocation won't change. It's the same
as it's now, will be wherever the integration lends.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And will there be any job cuts?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Well, so the details are still being worked out as
we do a lot of consultation, but what we're doing
is making sure that every permanent to staff will get
either retention within the new organization or across vacancies in
the Northern Territory Government.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Now, how is it all sort of going to work.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I guess, you know, what are the next steps to
sort of formally establish this new entity.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah. The next step is so we've been in consultation
and we have an expression open for people to provide
ideas for a new visit economy and it's a visitor
community that moves out of just a tourism strategy. It's
visit economy for a reason because we do want the
voice of events, parks and you know, we're doing a
lot with screen and tea. We want it to be
(06:10):
about visitation overall. So that will culminate doing Destination Anti week.
We're doing a series of events, including our conference, we'll
launch some of the findings of that consultation, the direction
of the strategy, and that will power this new entity
to go to new heights.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And in terms of this advance, there's going to be
an advisory board as I understand it, that's going to
be set up as well with the expressions of interest
opening today.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
What kind of people are you wanting to have on
that board?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, so working really closely with the government and the
minister and I think it's you know, we want a
lot of expertise, a lot of enthusiasm and passion to
really get the NTY to the next level. So there'll
be a wide search and it will be a mix.
So understanding of visitors' economy, marketing and destination, Aboriginal culture
(07:00):
and tourism is really important. Infrastructure and investment, attraction in
the tourism or all elements that we really want to
power into as part of this new advisory.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, Sinzanna, before I let you go, I know that
on the weekend of course, we saw the Motocross World Championships.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
How did it all go?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like there's been I've had friends just giving it raving
review saying it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Oh listen, it was a really exciting event to see
come together. And I've been there from the very beginning
of that first set of thought, and the teams did
an amazing job. And to you know, we got fifty
eight percent interstate and international. That's new money to the territory.
That is not a figure that we've seen for a while.
So we know it works and know it powered the
(07:45):
shoulder period. We've seen a really busy September and I
think that's the power of events, you know, in the
midst of a well thought out visit economy strategy.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it does seem as though that event tourism is
having a really that you've impact for the Northern territory
and that is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Do we know how many people attended? And what I know?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You just said fifty eight percent were from overseas need
to stay?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But how many people did we get there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
On there? We had close to thirty seven thousand, and
I think that surpassed any initial modeling and business case
that we've done that was more in the close to
thirty thousand. So we're still working through the Economic king Pact,
but again it would have surpassed the twenty one million
that was originally thought. And that's great result for the territory.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
What was it like having to manage as well? That
set up of the track, like having to get that
all sorted?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It looked incredible a lot of experts and from the
beginning we were always told if the track isn't right,
the writers won't want to come, and if the writers
don't want to come, the fans don't want to follow.
So a lot of work was done into it and
the feedback from the organizers, the international organizers that we
now have one of the best tracks, and we've seen
some of the writers say as well in social media
(08:56):
that we've got one of the best tracks. So that's
an incredible thing.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
So it cashing again next year.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Absolutely, it's a five year contract, so there's four years
to come. In the first year, there was so much
effort and effort from Major Events and Tourism coming together
to promote this event and they were awarded. Major Events
was awarded the best promotion of an EMXGPI from all
the twenty countries that do this exercise. So a lot
(09:22):
of kudos to the team that worked really hard.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Oh good stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, ANTI Department of Tourism and Hospitality CEO Susanna Bishop,
really appreciate your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Thanks so much for joining us, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Thank you
Now we know that it was announced yesterday that the
Northern Territory Government is going to be merging Tourism in
Tea and nt major events company. It's going to see
them become one entity called Tourism and Events n T.
It's in a bit to streamline operations and enhance the
territory's ability to market tourism and events. Now joining us
(00:22):
in the studio is the Department of Tourism CEO Susanna Bishop.
Good morning to you, Susannah.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Great to have you in the studio. Now, why is
this merger needed?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
While we do have two excellent organizations that play a
really critical role in a visiting economy, and it's not
just about delivering excellent events, it is about attracting new
money to the territory through visitation that then can power
all the things that we love and you know, businesses thriving,
new investment coming, more people wanting to come to the
(00:56):
NTE as well. So we feel that that integreet and
we'll just power both operations to new levels. And you know,
we know people save is not broken? Why fix it?
But I think also why not innovating more when we
have the ability to do so.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I suppose from an outsider looking in, and I know
you've been the head of NT Major Events as well,
so so you understand how they both work quite intimately,
I would imagine, But from an outsider looking in, I've
always looked at NT Major Events and thought they're so nimble,
and they're able to do things really quickly.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
They're able to get.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Things moving, you know, even throughout COVID and post COVID,
the ability to do that was a really great thing
that we saw. I suppose the worry that I have
is that NT Major Events now may get caught up
in the bureaucracy of being part of a government department.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I mean, are you worried that that's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yes, We've been working really hard since smart to make
sure that doesn't happen. So what we're moving is major
Events into the statutory body of tourism that sits within
the department. But it is a statutory body in its
own right, and there is legislative work being done by
government now to protect some of those nimbleness, their ability
(02:10):
to do certain things which will actually benefit tourism. At
the same time, has retained those abilities for major events.
So we're hope in that this becomes an improvement all around.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
What do you reckon some of those key benefits might be,
you know, in terms of the merger obviously, you know,
I'm assuming there may be some cost saving measures, maybe not,
But what do you think those benefits will be.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, it's certainly an exercise of strategic alignment and efficiency.
So you have two organizations, two boards, two distinct strategies.
Major events have evolved a lot over the years to
not just deliver events, but to start moving into a
visitation attraction. So suddenly you have potentially a lack of
(02:54):
cohesion into one bigger body trying to achieve that greater good.
So bringing both together, it's one board, one strategy, one focus,
and it really is about getting the dollar to go further,
but also that strategic alignment to deliver more for the territory.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, and I guess, you know, not to be critical
of tourism and tea in any way, but you know,
for myself, I suppose just coming back from New Zealand,
you see the ways in which different locations are so
innovative and so sort of forward thinking in some of
the different things that they do. I mean, you've got
people bungee jumping off cliff faces, You've got loose at
the top of mountains. You know, you've got all sorts
(03:32):
of things going on, and we're a very different location.
But I just wonder whether we need to get a
little bit more innovative in the way that we're doing
things tourism wise. You know, I'm thinking outside the box
a little.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah. Absolutely, I think it's a journey of continuous improvement.
We need the product, we need the visitation, and we
need investment. So the more we have visitation growth, or
the more we have awareness for the destination, the more
we attract the people than is business confidence, then you're
staying attracting investments. So we need to get the ecosystem
right and we need to get confidence right, and with
(04:07):
that certainty as well. It's really important because businesses will
invest if we know that there's good root access, that
there's good visitation for cast year round, and that's when
everything starts moving. We are releasing shortly some really good
steady numbers of growth for visitation, especially international as well
(04:27):
as domestic. So there's been a lot of growth over
the past year. We want to keep that momentum. We
want to keep that visitation move in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Now, what about with some of those smaller events.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
So I know that inta major events have helped some
of those smaller events, maybe not sort of you know,
been right in there helping, but certainly providing some funding
and some assistance to some of those smaller events. Is
that going to be able to continue to happen with
this merger.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Absolutely. I'm a big believer that the place you like
to visit is the place you like to visit to live,
and I think that that that is part of the
fabric of the destination is those leader events is going
to Alice Springs and being part of something that's very
community like the Benny Festival. Well, there's so much richness
(05:12):
on that that budget allocation won't change. It's the same
as it's now, will be wherever the integration lends.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
And will there be any job cuts?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Well, so the details are still being worked out as
we do a lot of consultation, but what we're doing
is making sure that every permanent to staff will get
either retention within the new organization or across vacancies in
the Northern Territory Government.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Now, how is it all sort of going to work.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I guess, you know, what are the next steps to
sort of formally establish this new entity.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah. The next step is so we've been in consultation
and we have an expression open for people to provide
ideas for a new visit economy and it's a visitor
community that moves out of just a tourism strategy. It's
visit economy for a reason because we do want the
voice of events, parks and you know, we're doing a
lot with screen and tea. We want it to be
(06:10):
about visitation overall. So that will culminate doing Destination Anti week.
We're doing a series of events, including our conference, we'll
launch some of the findings of that consultation, the direction
of the strategy, and that will power this new entity
to go to new heights.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And in terms of this advance, there's going to be
an advisory board as I understand it, that's going to
be set up as well with the expressions of interest
opening today.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
What kind of people are you wanting to have on
that board?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, so working really closely with the government and the
minister and I think it's you know, we want a
lot of expertise, a lot of enthusiasm and passion to
really get the NTY to the next level. So there'll
be a wide search and it will be a mix.
So understanding of visitors' economy, marketing and destination, Aboriginal culture
(07:00):
and tourism is really important. Infrastructure and investment, attraction in
the tourism or all elements that we really want to
power into as part of this new advisory.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, Sinzanna, before I let you go, I know that
on the weekend of course, we saw the Motocross World Championships.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
How did it all go?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like there's been I've had friends just giving it raving
review saying it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Oh listen, it was a really exciting event to see
come together. And I've been there from the very beginning
of that first set of thought, and the teams did
an amazing job. And to you know, we got fifty
eight percent interstate and international. That's new money to the territory.
That is not a figure that we've seen for a while.
So we know it works and know it powered the
(07:45):
shoulder period. We've seen a really busy September and I
think that's the power of events, you know, in the
midst of a well thought out visit economy strategy.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it does seem as though that event tourism is
having a really that you've impact for the Northern territory
and that is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Do we know how many people attended? And what I know?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You just said fifty eight percent were from overseas need
to stay?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But how many people did we get there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
On there? We had close to thirty seven thousand, and
I think that surpassed any initial modeling and business case
that we've done that was more in the close to
thirty thousand. So we're still working through the Economic king Pact,
but again it would have surpassed the twenty one million
that was originally thought. And that's great result for the territory.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
What was it like having to manage as well? That
set up of the track, like having to get that
all sorted?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It looked incredible a lot of experts and from the
beginning we were always told if the track isn't right,
the writers won't want to come, and if the writers
don't want to come, the fans don't want to follow.
So a lot of work was done into it and
the feedback from the organizers, the international organizers that we
now have one of the best tracks, and we've seen
some of the writers say as well in social media
(08:56):
that we've got one of the best tracks. So that's
an incredible thing.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
So it cashing again next year.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Absolutely, it's a five year contract, so there's four years
to come. In the first year, there was so much
effort and effort from Major Events and Tourism coming together
to promote this event and they were awarded. Major Events
was awarded the best promotion of an EMXGPI from all
the twenty countries that do this exercise. So a lot
(09:22):
of kudos to the team that worked really hard.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Oh good stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, ANTI Department of Tourism and Hospitality CEO Susanna Bishop,
really appreciate your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Thanks so much for joining us, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Thank you
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.