New TAFE school to foster next generation of Tasmania’s tourism industry
A new TasTAFE school is promising to deliver the training needed for the next generation of workers to build lifelong careers in one of the state’s most vital industries.
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A new TasTAFE school will deliver the training needed for the next generation of workers to build lifelong careers in one of the state’s most vital industries, Minister for Skills and Training Felix Ellis says.
The TasTAFE for the Visitor Economy will ensure the public education provider is delivering the training industry needs in the future, Mr Ellis announced on Monday.
“The School for the Visitor Economy will be bringing together our TasTAFE sites around the state, all under one leadership so that we can ensure that wherever you are in Tasmania, you have the opportunity to learn from the best of the best and become one of the best of the best,” he said.
TasTAFE chair Tim Gardner said the reorganisation would help boost the TAFE offering.
“The important thing for TasTAFE is that we deliver the skills that industry needs,” he said.
“It brings together not only the existing tourism and hospitality offerings, training offerings, but also cookery and bakery and butchery, and more broadly, sport and sports leadership and into this broader sphere that is aligned with the state’s objectives.
“Critically within the organisation, it brings all these offerings under single leadership, it
allows us to review all our product offerings, and also to continue to invest in and develop our people and our staff to ensure we deliver the very best.”
The restructure will include input from an industry advisory group.
Tourism Industry of Tasmania CEO Amy Hills said hospitality was somewhere Tasmanians could build a lifelong career.
“What we can see for the future of the school for the visitor economy is a world class centre of excellence for people to come and do their tourism and hospitality training,” she said.
“Right here in Tassie, we have a world class destination. We know that from the feedback we get right across Australia and across the world, we have the world’s most amazing landscapes and a really thriving hospitality sector.
“So why shouldn’t we have the very best training to offer our young people, but also our older people as well?”
Tasmanian Hospitality Association chief Steve Old said boosting the number and calibre of hospitality trainees was a key aspiration.
“One in eight jobs are connected to hospitality and tourism in Tasmania and one of the things we’ll face for a long time is a shortage of staff,” he said.
“We struggled to find staff in hospitality for a number of years, pre-Covid, but also post Covid.
“This is an industry, for a variety of reasons, over a long period of time, that struggle to find employees, either young or old, and that’s something that we’ve concentrated on in a long time to make sure that hospitality is seen as a real career.”
Originally published as New TAFE school to foster next generation of Tasmania’s tourism industry
Teenager dies days after moped crash
A 13-year-old who had been taken to hospital in a critical condition following a moped crash last week, has sadly died.
Survivor, movie star Akubra goes missing in Hobart
Peter Greste’s Akubra hat has survived the bowels of the Egyptian prison system — but not Hobart’s waterfront with his trusty companion going missing.