travelBulletin

AFTA view: Oct 2019 edition

JAYSON Westbury, chief executive AFTA

JAYSON Westbury, chief executive AFTA

As the public companies across the economy reported their results (during August and September) including those who sit in the travel and tourism sector, it would appear that in general the majority of these corporations have done well in the past year.

The cover story in this month’s travelBulletin highlights the always interesting, and I believe, inspirational aspects of senior executive salaries in our sector.

I pass no comment to the specifics except to say that the industry should be proud of our ability to attract, retain and reward talent even at the most senior levels.

There is a big range across many aspects of the industry and it is clear that the travel and tourism sector can hold its own when it comes to the narrative that we offer real careers with real prospects, and at the most senior levels we are competitive with other industries. One could even suggest that some sectors are well and truly inflated when it comes to senior level salaries, but that is for other commentators to express views on.

For me, the important thing within all of this is to ensure that the Government sees the travel and tourism industry as one that contributes and pays its share in supporting the future of our country, and that we can offer long-term career pathways.

More and more this has become a focus of AFTA and we will continue to drive initiatives to develop careers and pathways for future entrants to our industry, but also ensure that those who are in the travel and tourism industry have the skills and education they feel they need to remain competitive and knowledgeable for the future.

When it comes to taxation, I recently came across an interesting piece around how the government should tax employment, and I thought I would share it here. There are 5 key points: (1) You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity; (2) What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving; (3) The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else; (4) You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it; (5) When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

It made me stop and think just how true these sentences are and while there is a negative to these points, the key message is that hard work is important. I know that this is something that everyone, regardless of the pay or the level of seniority, aspires to do in the travel and tourism industry.

 

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