Accreditation
Accreditation is a set of industry standards established by the tourism industry to provide a model for better business practice and customer service. Accreditation helps all tourism businesses improve the way they operate. An accredited tourism operator is committed to quality business practices and professionalism in all aspects of the enterprise.
Operators must achieve the standards outlined in their relevant program to become accredited and show that their business practices ensure their services and products are of a consistent quality and meet or exceed the expectations of their customers.
Benefits of accreditation for tourism businesses include:
• Customer assurance of continued quality – improved customer relationships;
• Business improvement – quality management involves documentation of operational and management procedures, improved business knowledge, competence, sustainability and risk management and planning;
• Competitive advantage – increased market share, profitability, official promotion on government sponsored programs, tourism publications, websites and publicity materials; and
• Improved staff relationships, training and communications.
Download more information on the benefits of tourism business accreditation
Accreditation is ongoing, with an emphasis on business planning, operating standards and systems and performance measurement. This voluntary system enables those operators who devote the time and resources to achieving accreditation standards to be recognised and distinguished from those operators who have not pursued accreditation.
There are a number of accreditation programs available to the tourism industry in Queensland. These include:
• T-QUAL (Australian Tourism Quality Assured);
• AussieHost (Queensland Tourism Industry Council);
• Caravan Parks Accreditation Program (Caravan Industry Australia);
• Caterers Gold Licence Accreditation Scheme (Restaurant and Catering Queensland);
• EarthCheck (EarthCheck Pty Ltd);
• EcoGuide Certification Program (Ecotourism Australia);
• Meetings Industry Association Accreditation Scheme (Meetings & Events Australia);
• Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (Ecotourism Australia);
• National Tourism Accreditation Framework (NTAF); and
• Queensland Visitor Information Centre Signage Policy (Tourism Queensland).
For further information on accreditation programs contact the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.