10 Apr 2020
Words
Ben Hall Informer Issue 97
Faces of the industry: Dean Long
It was his first trip on a plane, and one of his earliest memories, that provided Dean Long with a deep seated love of travel and tourism that ultimately led to his appointment as CEO of the Accommodation Association of Australia (AAoA) in 2019.
“I was about four years old and my parents took me on a trip and from memory we were on an Ansett flight and the whole thing was very exciting,” Long recalls.
“In my head the memory is just getting on a plane and being in this tin tube that travels at hundreds of kilometres an hour and can fly. And ever since then I've been absolutely amazed and fascinated by the aviation industry.”
Now a self-described “aviation geek”, Dean and his wife regularly join the plane spotting crew at Shep’s Mound lookout near Sydney Airport from where he says he can often tell the make of an aircraft from its engine sound.
Long’s professional background now includes more than a decade of providing advice to Governments around Australia and the business sectors and, prior to joining the AAoA , he was a Senior Adviser in the NSW Government, Head of Public Policy for the Australian Federation of Travel Agents and the National Manager of Government Acquisition (merchant services) for American Express.
These varied roles equipped him with invaluable experience into the inner “workings” of government and the private sector but he says he knew he was always going to be drawn back to the tourism industry.
“Taking on this new role was a way to give back to the tourism industry and really provide a new approach to how we engage with government and how we get them to truly recognise the economic importance of the sector.
“I guess my current role is very much to make sure that the industry is truly represented across government and non-government stakeholders.
“It’s also about working with government people about making sure the regulatory settings are right. So it's very much about making sure the industry has a strong leadership voice on the issues that affect us as a collective.”
His time spent as a lobbyist and government adviser also served to remind him that he genuinely missed working in the tourism sector.
“One of the things when you step out of the tourism industry, even for a short period of time, is that you miss the people and the collaborative method, the commitment to supporting one another through hard times and good times.
“You don't get that in most other sectors. And so it's unique in that you're bound to that collegial nature where people stay in the industry for 20, sometimes 30 years.”
As you’d expect, one of the biggest challenges facing the AAoA this year is the impact of the 2019/20 Australian bushfires which devastated large parts of the country, causing not just loss of life and heartbreak for communities but also a major economic hit for the industry as a whole.
There have been attempts to put a dollar figure on the potential economic impact on the accommodation industry, but Long says there are too many variables to be able to do that with any accuracy.
“Well, we definitely know there was impact. There's no doubt about that,” he said.
“We've got some figures in hand, but one of the things we like to do is make sure we use numbers that are accurate.
“We know there's been a drop in revenue for the industry. We know there's been a drop in occupancy. It varies. So saying a single number actually really doesn't help.”
One thing is certain, though, is that the Federal Government has allocated a subsidy of $76 million to encourage Australians to travel into regional areas to boost the local economies.
“This has been an absolute positive. There were a few people being a little bit critical of the government response rate.
“I've worked as a public servant, I've worked as a political advisor, and if someone said to me that the Federal Government could turn around a support package for $76 million within a 10 day period, to me really showed the government had, at the centre of its thinking, how important the tourism industry was to these regional communities.”
Dean Long says his affinity with the tourism and accommodation sector is borne out of a respect for operators who have, in the face of regular adversity, shown an impressive degree of resilience.
“I think that's the one thing that sets this industry apart from every other industry, it is the fact that we do operate in an environment with high fluctuations.
“There's good times and bad times and okay times. And during the good times, life's wonderful and dandy.
“But even during the bad times we have to get on, we still have to service our guests, we still have to make sure our corporate clients are looked after, and we need to make sure that our major clients are looked after.
“So, as a sector, I've been amazed at the speed of which we process refunds for customers, got back on the horse and started marketing as a collective.
“It's fantastic to see. So getting on with the job and making sure that we don't go out of business has been really heartening to see.”
“WHEN YOU STEP OUT OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY … YOU MISS THE PEOPLE AND THE COLLABORATIVE METHOD, THE COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER THROUGH HARD TIMES AND GOOD TIMES.”
Long has also thrown his support behind the campaigns to encourage Australians to support the bushfire-hit regions of the country by taking holidays “at home”.
“I was down on the south coast of NSW recently and there was bushfire damage, which is both heartbreaking and devastating at the same time.
“Yet, literally just 70 metres away is lush forest where it looks as though nothing has happened.
“On Kangaroo Island, which was one of the worst hit areas in Australia, around two thirds of the island was actually untouched by bushfires.
“My message is go and see these places and share it on social media. Let others know what’s happening and accommodation operators, let guests have free Wi-Fi and encourage them to share on social media.”
