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Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolvan three point sixty online at mixed one

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Speaker 1: O four nine dot com. Joining us live on the

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Speaker 1: line is Tourism Top End General Manager Glenn Hengley. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you, Glenn.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Good morning Katie, Good morning.

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Speaker 1: Listener, Glenn. How are you going this morning?

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Speaker 2: We're in a better place after and we're grateful that

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Speaker 2: there's been a step in the right direction from our

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Speaker 2: hardworking Chow and his team at MT Health to reconsider

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Speaker 2: the enormous programs that have been put forward. The management

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Speaker 2: planes have been ploded by the small expedition ship companies,

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Speaker 2: Australian owned companies that to enable Australians to come and

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Speaker 2: board or embark or disembark here in Darwen.

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Speaker 1: This is.

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Speaker 2: And I've been on the phone since the announcement two

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Speaker 2: o'clock yesterday afternoon and again this morning with the managing

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Speaker 2: directors and the CEOs of these companies to find out

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Speaker 2: if it's not too late they can reconsider their plans,

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Speaker 2: because I can tell you that probably one of the

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Speaker 2: bigger companies, he said, another week and a half and

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Speaker 2: we would have been fully set up and burned our operations.

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Speaker 2: So they're madly scrambling to unravel that what they've done

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Speaker 2: to be able to bring a big part of their

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Speaker 2: operations back to Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Wow, so we could get in just in time here.

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Speaker 2: Glenn, So that four o'clock yesterday afternoon. They're doing all

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Speaker 2: they can to bring that back. And here's why their

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Speaker 2: passengers want to be able to spend time in the

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Speaker 2: Top End. They're getting off the game. They're flying in.

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Speaker 2: They've made all these bookings. You know, over seven thousand

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Speaker 2: customers that were able to identify all Australians had booked

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Speaker 2: to either fly in or train in here into the

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Speaker 2: Top End and spend between one night and eight nights

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Speaker 2: around the Top End before getting on their expedition ship

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Speaker 2: for their Kimberly crews across the room, all viose versa

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Speaker 2: come in from Kimberly and to do that, and the

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Speaker 2: value of having these small expedition ships here isn't just

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Speaker 2: about tourists for restaurants and hotels and tours and attractions.

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Speaker 2: It's as we've talked before, it's the marine mechanics, it's

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Speaker 2: the fuel, it's the fruit and edge all our local

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Speaker 2: producers that are keeping these small vessels operating when they

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Speaker 2: homepoort here and of course the crew they get on

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Speaker 2: and off here spend an enormous amount of money as well,

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Speaker 2: so it's important to our broader economy, not just our

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Speaker 2: tourism and hospitality sector.

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Speaker 1: Well, Glenn, I really hope that we do have a

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Speaker 1: situation where, you know, where we do have these small well,

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Speaker 1: these small ships now being able to We know that

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Speaker 1: they've changed the rules so that hopefully we are able

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Speaker 1: to see more of them here. But it would be

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Speaker 1: absolutely wonderful if we have these expeditions now rather than

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Speaker 1: choosing broom. Coming back to the top end.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the rule that was put in place before, which

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Speaker 2: was different to the rest of Australia, so all Australian

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Speaker 2: waters had that any smallship could carry up to one

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Speaker 2: hundred passengers plus crew. For reasons that we're confusing and

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Speaker 2: still unknown, we had decided here in the territory to

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Speaker 2: say it's one hundred persons on board crew and passengers,

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Speaker 2: and that just didn't make it commercially viable for these

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Speaker 2: businesses to operate that, which is the mainstay of our

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Speaker 2: business and one of the most coveted aspects of tourism

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Speaker 2: in Australia for them to do that. So to do

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Speaker 2: that that makes commercially viable. And some of these vessels

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Speaker 2: they can carry up to one hundred and fifty passengers,

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Speaker 2: and they said, that's fine, we will run the ninety

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Speaker 2: nine passengers. We want to make sure that we're doing

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Speaker 2: the right thing not only by government and health authorities,

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Speaker 2: but the communities in which we operate. We want to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we will leave these small expedition ships,

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Speaker 2: keep keep Australians traveling, keep our economy moving, but also

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Speaker 2: make sure every community and everybody is safe in this

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Speaker 2: which is so important. The other little challenge is still

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Speaker 2: trying to get their head around is that there is

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Speaker 2: still an existing requirement that only two ships in territory

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Speaker 2: water small ships in territory waters at any time. We're

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Speaker 2: still trying to work that out ourselves, because from a

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Speaker 2: Western Australian perspective, six or seven ships on the north

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Speaker 2: over the Kimberleys was fine. And so how and how

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Speaker 2: do we govern that because we know that the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory government doesn't have a naval fleet out they're governing

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Speaker 2: our territory waters. But so you know, ultimately, I think

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Speaker 2: there was concerns around our capacities and I think what

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Speaker 2: we're grateful for is that NTEE Health took the time

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Speaker 2: to sit down with these expedition companies, go through these

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Speaker 2: management plans, look at how they have spent hundreds of

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Speaker 2: thousands of dollars each in training and redeveloping, and also

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Speaker 2: enormous amount of money in re equipping their vessels, making

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Speaker 2: sure that they've got the best air filters and all

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Speaker 2: of those things that are really important that we saw

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Speaker 2: Quantas do some time ago. And unlike for like, when

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Speaker 2: we're talking about expedition ships, we're talking about vessels that

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Speaker 2: carry less people than are seven three seven flying from

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Speaker 2: Melbourne to Darwin and have six to seven times the

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Speaker 2: more space and of course all this open deck scenario

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Speaker 2: and spend a lot more time off the vessels than

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Speaker 2: they do on the vessels. Well, we'll keep working on.

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Speaker 1: That absolutely, and Glen, I know. The other issue that

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Speaker 1: we've just spoken to the CEO of Hospitality here in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory about Alex Bruce, is that of the

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Speaker 1: worker shortage that we are experiencing. We also spoke to

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Speaker 1: Daniel Rochford about this yesterday in Central Australia. Is this

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Speaker 1: something that we're feeling quite broadly. Here in the top end.

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Speaker 2: We absolutely are. You know, it's not right here I

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Speaker 2: am talking to about expedition ships and the value of

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Speaker 2: being allowing more Australians to come and travel here. But

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Speaker 2: part of that is premised because it's not just about

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Speaker 2: the restaurants and the hotels, it's the border economy benefit.

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Speaker 2: Every time a tourist lands in the territory. It is

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Speaker 2: a real challenge for us. Katie job Keeper. One of

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Speaker 2: the great things about job Keeper from the get go

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Speaker 2: last year it was introduced was not the money to

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Speaker 2: the businesses, but the ability for businesses to retain that

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Speaker 2: skilled and semi skilled labor in their businesses. So the

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Speaker 2: moment that a lot of our businesses also weren't eligible

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Speaker 2: when job Keeper came around, everyone in the top end

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Speaker 2: knows that a lot of our touring businesses in particular

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Speaker 2: aren't operating through the web because a lot of purses

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Speaker 2: they can't access. So they have a relationship that's gone

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Speaker 2: on for years and years and years with their staff

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Speaker 2: is you know, you're off our books for four months

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Speaker 2: and then you have flat out on our books for

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Speaker 2: the dry season. When job Keeper came along last year,

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Speaker 2: a lot of these people weren't on the books therefore

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Speaker 2: weren't eligible, And of course these touring companies weren't able

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Speaker 2: to stand up their business to be able to employ people.

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Speaker 2: Now they're looking to employ tour guides, drivers, deckhands, cap

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Speaker 2: for small small and some of our inland cruising, and

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Speaker 2: those people aren't in the territory anymore. They've all gone

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Speaker 2: back to Sydney and Melbourne. And then we look at

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Speaker 2: our hospitality and our hotel sector and there's a lot

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Speaker 2: of empty spaces there and one of the biggest challenges.

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Speaker 2: And I just listened to what Alex had to say

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Speaker 2: and I thought I really loved his advice that comment

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Speaker 2: around as a Territori and to understand that we've got

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Speaker 2: some gaps here. One of the best ways we can

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Speaker 2: impress a local a visitor to our great place is

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Speaker 2: to be able just to take their mind off the

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Speaker 2: fact that they're waiting an extra three minutes for a

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Speaker 2: bit and have a chat to them and say good ay.

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Speaker 2: And also as Territorians to understand that a lot of

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Speaker 2: our business is one of off a great customer service

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Speaker 2: and one of the challenges a lot of restaurants and

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Speaker 2: bars and hotels and tour operators are facing right now

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Speaker 2: is they're actually throttling back their business. Demand is huge,

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Speaker 2: but they don't want to give a bad experience. They'd

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Speaker 2: rather know online reputation than a poor one. So in

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Speaker 2: doing that, that's why we're finding some places that you'd

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Speaker 2: think would be open seven days but they're not, or

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Speaker 2: you think they'd be open these hours and they're or

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Speaker 2: they're not open at all, or you're walking in and

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Speaker 2: you're saying you said you're full, but you only look

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Speaker 2: like you're seventy percent. And that's because they don't want

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Speaker 2: to overpromise and undeliver on the service. And the other thing,

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Speaker 2: if I could just that extra moment for us, which

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Speaker 2: I think is such the opportunity. Five point eight million

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Speaker 2: Australians went on an overseas holiday in twenty nineteen. They

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Speaker 2: can't do that this year. Territories big on their list.

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Speaker 2: This is our time to shine and the real challenge

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Speaker 2: of what we've got is people coming along and not

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Speaker 2: having that gorgeous territory experience and in fact walking away

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Speaker 2: going it's not what we thought it would be, and

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Speaker 2: that forever days and we know the word of mouth

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Speaker 2: is the most powerful marketing tool for any destination in

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Speaker 2: the world, and we've got to get it right.

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Speaker 1: And I like the point that both you and Alex

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Speaker 1: have made that we as Territorians can try our best

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Speaker 1: as well to welcome tourists. I mean, even on the

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Speaker 1: last weekend, I was somewhere and there was these tourists

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Speaker 1: I think they were from Ballarat, and I thought, I

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Speaker 1: don't know if I've ever seen these tourists from Ballarat before.

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Speaker 1: How wonderful. And they were talking about the great experience

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Speaker 1: that they'd been having, and you know, they'd ridden their

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Speaker 1: scooters down to get their nails done and do a

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Speaker 1: few different things. I thought, how fabulous. That's exactly what

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Speaker 1: we want happening.

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Speaker 2: Yep. And because we've let's crossover for the last few

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Speaker 2: months of people coming into the center, the team in

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Speaker 2: the travels center here locals with vouchers and tourists coming

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Speaker 2: in and quite often in the queue you find it's

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Speaker 2: actually locals turning around and saying, I've ever heard your conversation.

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Speaker 2: I can give you some information when you go here

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Speaker 2: and go there and do this. Just can't miss out

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Speaker 2: on that. Yeah, just in gorgeous.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, ah, that is wonderful and yeah, I reckon, we

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Speaker 1: all need to try and do that a bit more.

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Speaker 1: If you can see there's some tourists around. I do

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Speaker 1: when I'm out running as well, Glenn, if you can

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Speaker 1: see people look like they're tourists, always make sure I

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Speaker 1: say good morning and give them a wave, give them

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Speaker 1: a friendly greeting while they're here.

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Speaker 2: Well, anyway, we've all traveled and we all remember those

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Speaker 2: destinations with the friendly destinations, the one that people took

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Speaker 2: the time to say gooday when you stood on that

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Speaker 2: corner of on the intersection trying to work out whether

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Speaker 2: to go left or right and someone came along said

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Speaker 2: can I give your hand say and that feeling was

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Speaker 2: one of the most enduring experiences that will stay with

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Speaker 2: you on any destination, on any holiday. Yeah. Absolutely, we

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Speaker 2: want to be able to deliver.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you. Well, Tourism Top End General Manager,

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Speaker 1: Glenn Hinley, It's always good to catch up with you.

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Speaker 1: We'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie. Thanks you