Facilitating the development of Australian Indigenous tourism enterprises: The Business Ready Program for Indigenous Tourism

Tourism has been identified as a sector capable of offering economic opportunities for Indigenous people in Australia. In 2004, the Federal government introduced a mentoring programme aimed at helping Indigenous people establish or to further develop sustainable tourism businesses. This paper provides a critical examination of the implementation of this programme and factors which affected its outcomes. The examination will hopefully assist in a more effective development of future government programmes. The research was conducted in tandem with the administration of the mentoring programme and was informed by interpretivist and Indigenous research methodologies. A series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with stakeholders took place over three and a half years; the duration of the programme. The findings suggest that while the programme could be considered relatively successful there were some problems that reduced its effectiveness. For example, mentors had too many businesses in their portfolio, the programme timeframe was too short and there was a lack of specific key performance indicators. Many stakeholders believed that prior consultation with the proposed Indigenous programme participants would have resulted in an improved programme

Tackle the Problem When It Gets Here: Pandemic Preparedness Among Small and Medium Businesses

Globally, governments and health authorities are preparing for pandemic influenza and producing resources to promote preparedness planning; however, there is little information available to inform the design of strategies to promote preparedness. Three focus groups were conducted to identify and to describe beliefs and perceptions about pandemic influenza and response planning among small and medium business owners and managers. Most participants were not concerned about the risk of pandemic influenza, and none had engaged in any planning for a pandemic. Findings show that participants were uncertain of the modes of transmission of pandemic influenza and what precautions could be taken prior to, or in the event of, a pandemic. Among the most important findings was participants' perceived inability to effectively prevent or control the spread of influenza within their workplace. These findings have important implications for the design of communication strategies to promote preparedness

Untangling the “messy” legislative basis of tourism development planning : five cases from Australia

This article reports on a scoping study examining the legislative basis for tourism development and planning in Australia. While planning is vital to facilitate strategic decision-making regarding the appropriate nature and scale of tourism-related developments within a destination, the legislative frameworks that provide for, control and regulate many aspects of tourism development have neither been identified nor collated in an integrated manner. This research used a case-study methodology to examine the range and scope of legislation impacting tourism development in Australia. The study identified 285 current Acts that were categorized into five broad themes. On the basis of these findings, a number of recommendations for identification, collaboration and education regarding the legislative environment have been postulated.Griffith Business School, Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel ManagementNo Full Tex