Accommodation Australia (AA) has discussed various timely issues affecting the hotel and accommodation sectors during its first national meeting at Parliament House in Canberra.
Leaders from all over Australia were in attendance at the meeting, including the Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles, who was invited as a special guest.
Accommodation Australia chair, Leanne Harwood, said having Minister Giles attend and speak directly to board members on various issues was the perfect end of the day.
“It was fantastic to host the first-ever board meeting of Accommodation Australia at Parliament House – this was the culmination of years of hard work by many people, and it was great to see the dream finally become a reality,” said Harwood.
During the inaugural meeting, migration, industrial relations, vocational education and training, and short-term rentals were all up for discussion. The proposed $5 bed tax in the state of Victoria was also discussed, with Accommodation Australia CEO, Michael Johnson stating that board members saw the proposal as an unfair tax on hotels and tourists, especially during a time that has challenged the sector and still recovering from Covid-19.
“The proposed tax should be on the actual short-term rental market contributing to the lack of housing in Victoria – not on hotels which have nothing to do with the rental problems,” said Johnson.
International travel was another important topic with board members discussing the importance of Chinese tourism and the international student cap.
Chinese tourism and the international student cap were both topics of conversation as well.
