In 2020, Austrade worked with industry and all levels of government to develop THRIVE 2030, an industry-led and government-enabled strategy for the tourism sector to recover and grow through to 2030 and beyond.

As per the three-phased approach to Strategy implementation, Austrade began re-engaging stakeholders across Australia to identify opportunities for the Consolidation Phase of the strategy.

In May 2024, we partnered with Austrade to host and facilitate an important dialogue on Sustainability for the sector to determine the priorities that would shape the opportunities for the Consolidation Phase of the Strategy.

A diverse group of 35 stakeholders (including government, academics, tourism businesses, traditional owners, and sustainability thought leaders) came together in beautiful Ngunnawal country at the stunning National Arboretum (the very symbol of recovery and regeneration) to discuss tourism's impact on nature, biodiversity, and the push for net zero.

The focus areas and actions identified were highly considered and underpinned by an understanding of the need for a local, place-based approach and supportive structures to enable activation.

Attendees connected the dots between the many complexities and barriers tourism businesses face to decarbonise quickly and to support the care and regeneration of our natural ecosystems. Working collaboratively with partners outside the traditional tourism ecosystem at a local level was identified as a key enabler to fast-track action.

 

Our Facilitation Role

Prior to the Dialogue, we worked collaboratively with Austrade to determine relevant lines of enquiry and probes centered around the core listening themes of:

• Respecting Climate and The Push for Net Zero
• Respecting Nature & Biodiversity

Our role on the day was to facilitate the Dialogue agenda along with facilitating 3 separate table discussions around each Theme. During each table discussion we captured insights and as the day progressed, we iteratively synthesised these ideas into opportunities to be prioritised by the group.

In the final session of the day, we presented participants with the curated list of opportunities for collective prioritisation which were then fed back into the overarching listening that will inform the Consolidation Phase of THRIVE 2030.