What is Accreditation?
The Australian Tourism Accreditation Program is a business development program that is based on Quality Assurance principles. It has been developed by aligning the six state and territory based tourism accreditation programs;
- National Tourism Accreditation Program Western Australia
- Better Business Accreditation Program Victoria
- National Tourism Accreditation Program Tasmania
- National Tourism Accreditation Program South Australia
- National Tourism Accreditation Program ACT
- Northern Territory Tourism Accreditation Program
In Western Australia the Program is delivered by Tourism Council WA. The program focuses on the business developing professional management systems that will lead to reliability, consistency and predictability in the operation of the business which in turn results in improved customer service and satisfaction.
The Program addresses many of the issues that are covered in the development of a business plan but also focuses on those key elements that are part of the day to day function of any tourism operation. It encourages a business to:
- Plan how their business will function
- Check that customer expectations are being met.
The program is broken down into 14 assessable sections including;
| Business Details | Risk Management |
| Licences and Permits | Economic Sustainability/ Financial Systems |
| Insurance details | Environmental Management |
| Marketing Plan | Social/ Cultural Sustainability |
| Customer Service | Business Plan |
| Business Operating Systems | Continuous Improvement |
| Human Resource Management | Code of Practice/ Code of Ethics |
In turn, Accreditation will provide clients and industry colleagues with an assurance that participating businesses are committed to professionalism both in business operations and delivery of service.
Further information about the Australian Tourism Accreditation program can be found at the website www.atap.net.au From here you can follow the links for operators and view an online demo of the program.
From the 1st July 2010 businesses must be accredited to be eligible to participate in Tourism WA services such as WA Tourism Network membership, brochure display at the Western Australian Visitor Centre in Forrest Place, and other cooperative marketing opportunities such as familiarisation’s and visitor journalist programs.
Tourism WA Accreditation Policy
For more information contact the Quality Team at Tourism WA at network@westernaustralia.com
