Through targeted measures outlined in Tuesday’s Budget, the government is investing almost $80 million in the tourism industry to:
- help attract visitors
- upskill workers
- grow visitor expenditure.
$48 million for tourism and travel
The government’s new $48 million tourism and travel investment, as committed in the election, will:
- attract workers to our vibrant tourism industry
- train and upskill new and existing hospitality and tourism workers. This will be delivered by Accommodation Association of Australia through ‘The Hub’
- support tourism businesses with activities to drive international travel to and from Australia
- assist the Australian Tourism Industry Council to enhance and improve the Quality Tourism Framework. This will support the ongoing growth and development of the tourism industry
- upgrade caravan park infrastructure and visitor facilities.
Tourism Research Australia (TRA)
The Budget included funding for a further election commitment to update TRA’s International Visitor Survey (IVS) and National Visitor Survey (NVS). This means that estimates of the economic and social contribution of business events can be measured over the long term. This will be achieved with $2 million over 3 years through redirecting existing spending.
Continuing support
The government also committed to continuing support for:
- attracting international visitors to north Queensland and the Greater Barrier Reef, with $15 million for Tourism Tropical North Queensland
- modernising Tourism Research Australia’s analytical offering through Big Data. This will support Australian tourism planning, with $4.7 million over 2 years
These are continuing measures announced by the previous government that align with the current government’s policies and priorities.
Other Budget announcements that benefit the visitor economy
Other announcements in the Budget relevant to the visitor economy included:
- building skills through a $1 billion agreement with the states and territories. This will support 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education places next year including tourism and hospitality as priority sectors
- supporting regional economic growth and development, including through funding of $1 billion over 3 years for 2 new infrastructure grant programs: Growing Regions Program and the Precincts and Partnerships Program. More information is on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
- $139.9 million over 3 years to support the aviation sector to upgrade runways, provide facilities and deliver the Aviation White Paper
- a further $6.2 million on top of the $36.1 million already announced to speed up visa processing and promote migration to Australia
- an investment of $96.9 million over 4 years from 2022–23 to implement The Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan. This is to protect the Great Barrier Reef, one of the major attractions for visitors to Australia.
These measures will contribute to our visitor economy getting back to $166 billion in visitor economy expenditure by 2024, and on the path to $230 billion by 2030. These targets are outlined in the THRIVE 2030 strategy.
More information