The Federal Shadow Minister for Tourism, Bob Baldwin MP, today visited Northern suburb tourist attractions including Leapfrogs Cafe and the Great Escape with the Federal Member for Cowan, Luke Simpkins MP to talk about local tourism.

“According to the National Tourism Business Council there are 3,817 tourism related businesses in my electorate of Cowan,” said Mr Simpkins. “This figure represents 31.6% of all businesses in the electorate.”    

“Mr Baldwin’s visit gave local tourism operators one-on-one access to discuss industry issues and potential solutions, and have direct input with the people who develop the policies that affect their business,” said Mr Simpkins.

“The Coalition has a strong history of supporting the tourism sector, unlike Labor who cut funding for Tourism Australia by $13.5 million in real terms in their first term,” Mr Simpkins said.  

“Some of the major concerns raised with Mr Baldwin included wage and penalty rates, hospitality staff retention, job competition with the mining industry, and local infrastructure issues” Mr Simpkins said. 

“I believe it was highly valuable for Mr Baldwin to see firsthand what these local tourism operators are doing with their businesses and the issues they are currently facing,” concluded Mr Simpkins.

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