Charters, who is convening the national Tourism Futures conference in Brisbane this July, says after a decade in the doldrums the tourism industry is looking to reinvigorate itself and the upcoming national conference is a timely opportunity to showcase innovative ideas and crystallise priorities going towards 2020.

“Education has become one of Australia’s top export earners, despite recent setbacks, and the tourism industry is yet to fully appreciate the value of this very receptive market. Students and their families are already sold on Australia as a destination and are keen to explore the country while they are here, often over several years,” said Charters.

“Similarly, with Indigenous Tourism, we need to understand the growing appetite for authentic experiences with indigenous people and their culture and take hold of the opportunities that are available.”

Other topics to be covered at the meet include customer service, workforce shortages, climate change management and building sustainable destinations.

“We are currently calling for papers for the conference and are eager to include a breadth of ideas from across the industry,” added Charters.

The conference will be staged at Brisbane’s South Bank Institute of Technology from 05-07 July.