The hospitality industry is in mourning this week following the sudden passing of Tourism Training Australia’s popular and well-liked CEO, William ‘Bill’ Galvin OAM.
Bill established Tourism Training Australia in 1982 to “develop a flexible and effective training system for the tourism and hospitality industry”.
His organisation was one of the few Australian companies to bring together a large number of training partners, including industry, government, unions, private and public training providers, industry associations, universities and students/trainees.
He was on the board of several organisations, including Torrens University Australia’s Hospitality Industry Advisory Board (Torrens University, Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School and William Blue College of Hospitality Management), chaired by HM Editor-In-Chief, James Wilkinson.
“Bill’s industry insight was nothing short of phenomenal,” Wilkinson said. “He was a legend of the hospitality industry and was admired and respected by people in every corner of hospitality from bars to five star hotels.
“He will be missed by thousands of people and he leaves an incredible legacy in the training industry that will last generations.
“Our thoughts are with Bill’s family and friends at this time and may he rest in peace.”
Bill commenced his career in Commercial Catering and Food and Beverage Management with Federal Hotels Australia before completing further training with the Hotel Australia in 1965.
His career changed direction when he joined the Hilton International chain of Hotels by accepting appointments in Vancouver and Montreal, Canada where he completed management training.
In 1970 he accepted further positions in London and later completed further assignments in France and Holland.
On his return to Australia in 1972 he joined TAFE as a full time teacher. He was later promoted through a range of positions before being appointed in 1988 as Head of TAFE NSW, Tourism and Hospitality Training with headquarters at the Ryde College of Hotel Administration.
He completed a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1977 (USA and Europe) to study hospitality training, and TAFE (NSW) Fellowships in 1984 (Europe) and again in 1986 (China) to further his knowledge of the developing tourism industries in these diverse countries.
He understood the International marketplace after completing assignments in China, Indonesia, Canada and the United States of America.
In Australia, he was President of the Tourism, Hospitality and Catering Institute of Australia and a member of the Tourism Taskforce. During 1995-2000 he was a foundation member of the Sydney Olympic 2000 Bid and chaired Industry Groups in preparation and during the Games.
He also served on the advisory board for Kenvale College of Hospitality. He was keen to drive education research leadership in Tourism and Hospitality and his astute and comprehensive understanding of the local tourism educational product placed him in a sound position to head Tourism Training Australia as the peak industry body to advise on training and education for Tourism and Hospitality.
His street-smart ability to promote and market success for the Tourism and Hospitality environment placed him in an ideal position to work at consolidating this successful training sector for Australia.