The nation’s peak accommodation body met on Queensland’s Gold Coast recently with a range of important items on the agenda including membership and advocacy priorities for the year ahead.
AA CEO James Goodwin said it was important for the board to meet before the busy Christmas season was fully underway to outline its goals for 2026.
“There was no shortage of issues,” Mr Goodwin said.
“Discussion ranged from the updated Short Term Rental Accommodation policy to the perennial problem of addressing chef shortages and other workforce issues.
“Another item on the agenda was the proposal from the Albanese Government to make the NABERs energy rating system compulsory for hotels greater than 100 rooms and what this means for members.
“Meeting in Queensland at RACV Royal Pines also gave us the chance to hear first-hand the issues affecting accommodation operators in a tourism mecca like the Gold Coast.”
Mr Goodwin said on a positive note, there’s growing tourism demand including improved international aviation access and the Board recognised the new, targeted Tourism Australia destination marketing across key regions to help drive inbound growth.
“The Board was also joined by new National AHA President David Basheer, who led a discussion on how we engage together on key policy issues such as migration and the complex political landscape next year,” he said.
“The annual report for 2024-25 was approved in what has been a successful year. This also marked an important milestone, being the second full year since the amalgamation of the previous accommodation bodies.”
