The travel industry will fare better if it follows the example of Australian winemakers, Charles Leadbeater, British author and former advisor to Tony Blair, has said.
Leadbeater's comments came during his keynote speech to some 1,000 delegates at the ACTE Global Education Conference in Paris.
He said travel companies needed to avoid following the example of French winemakers, who have alienated many consumers by being too difficult to understand.
Australian winemakers are a better example to follow, said Leadbeater, as the wine they produce is seen as accessible by most people.
Wines from Oz are easy to open and are easily drinkable, he said, and will even go with a chicken korma.
“That is the dynamic that is playing out in industry after industry,” said Leadbeater.
“The control in industries is shifting from people who thought they could say 'You don't speak our language we can't serve you', to people who say 'What language do you want to speak and we'll help you use it'.”