China Ready Australia

Tourism businesses in Australia can now gear up for the Chinese market thanks to the announcement of the Strategic Tourism Investment Grant (STIG) set to fund ATEC to deliver a National China Ready program.

TAFE NSW-Western Sydney Institute will partner with learning and development specialist AVANA and China Ready & Accredited to lead the program to ensure Australian businesses are at the forefront in welcoming Chinese visitors to the country.

Providing the important link with China, China Ready & Accredited will be delivered across the tourism industry by AVANA who has over a decade of experience in the field of training.

Describing China as a leading opportunity for the future growth of Australia’s tourism industry, ATEC’s managing director Felicia Mariani said “our businesses need to gear up to take full advantage of what is estimated to be 900,000 Chinese visitors a year by 2020.”

According to Ms Mariani, delivery of the program will see genuine enhancements to the capacity of Australian tourism businesses through cultural understanding of the Chinese visitor as well as insights and on-the-ground knowledge.

Expressing her approval for the partnership with organisations that have strong proven record in the delivery of training programs, Ms Mariani said a main aim of the program was to build a relevant workforce to meet the service and experience expectations of the Chinese visitor.

AVANA CEO, Mark Hutchinson commented on the strong connections to China which commenced back in 2008, saying “with this experience and our history as a tourism operator, we will deliver a relevant and practical training program accessible to the whole Australian market."

Providing educators with a better understanding of what is expected by Chinese visitors, the National China Ready program will offer tourism businesses cutting edge insights into the trends, demands and needs of the Chinese market. 

Global executive chairman of China Ready & Accredited Garry Crockett said there are other programs out there; however they offer information that is outdated or incorrect.

“The new China is a very different marketplace to the old China and it is critical that tourism businesses are getting up to the minute and well sourced information,” Mr Crockett stated.

China Ready & Accredited experts and industry leaders come from a background knowledge and understanding of the Chinese traveller that is second to none, working on the ground in both China and Australia.

“It’s their business and they are the best equipped people to open the door on the China market for Australia’s tourism businesses,” Mr Crockett concluded.