AusLeisure

Australia’s tourism industry needs continued strong political leadership and commitment in order to maintain its success and grow further opportunities for the national economy, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Managing Director, Peter Shelley has said ahead of today's Federal budget.

Shelley explains “this budget is a great opportunity for the Federal Government to really build on the proven strength of our tourism industry, which is Australia’s second largest export worth more than $40 billion a year to our national economy.

“It’s been 10 years since we set the course for growing our sector under the Tourism 2020 Strategy, a strategy that has harnessed the efforts of both government and industry and has helped to deliver the excellent results we see today.

“As we enter the process of defining the next 10 year tourism strategy, it is the perfect time for the Federal Government to invest in our industry to support us in maintaining this foothold established as a competitor in the international tourism marketplace.

“ATEC represents hundreds of small and medium size tourism businesses across Australia, the businesses that provide accommodation, experiences, transport and services to our international visitors and it is clear they can see the opportunities before them.”

Shelley said the industry is seeking the continuation of investment initiatives to help drive tourism infrastructure and support the capability of our industry to deliver quality experiences for all international visitors, ading “while the Government has done great work to remove some of the barriers to tourism’s growth, there remain real sticking points that mean we are not achieving our full potential.

“It is a concern to ATEC and our members that the Government continues to offer no increase to the budget for Tourism Australia. As the agency tasked with selling Australia's tourism message to the world, we need to ensure its funding remains competitive, especially as the real costs of international promotion continues to increase.”

ATEC’s pre-budget submission included a number of areas where the organisation believes the Government can support Australia’s tourism industry to maximise its potential as a key economic driver and a jobs generator including: 

• Maintaining the Commonwealth government’s commitment to Approved Destination Status
• Continuing reforms to streamline visa application processes and the visitor experience including adopting measures which allow for a flexible and nimble tourism workforce
• Building capability by establishing a Growth Centre for Tourism within the Department of Industry
• Increasing the Commonwealth government’s commitment to the Export Market Development Grant scheme
• Freezing the Passenger Movement Charge at current levels
• Maintaining Tourism Research as a priority to provide an informed platform for investment and marketing decision making
• Investing in a business events plan to attract business events to Australia
• Committing to the expansion of Wi-Fi connectivity across Australia, particularly in key tourism hot-spots 

Image courtesy of Tourism Queensland.

17th April 2018 - TTF TOURISM INDUSTRY AND POLICY CONFERENCE TO EXPLORE DEMANDS OF AUSTRALIA’S SUPERGROWTH INDUSTRY

16th February 2018 - NORTHERN TERRITORY GOVERNMENT LOOKS TO ‘TURBOCHARGE’ TOURISM 

30th November 2017 - AUSTRALIAN TOURISM WORKERS ‘FAR TOO QUALIFIED’

7th November 2017 - QTIC ADVOCATES FOR COMPETITIVE INVESTMENT IN TOURISM MARKETING AND EVENTS 

31st October 2017 - QTIC CALLS FOR BACKING FOR STRONG TOURISM FUTURE

18th October 2017 - NEW REPORT CALLS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY TO ADDRESS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION 

20th November 2017 - TOURISM LEADERS GATHER IN PERTH 

22nd September 2017 - GROWTH ONGOING IN AUSTRALIAN TOURISM AS SPENDING EXCEEDS $103 BILLION 

7th June 2017 - AUSTRALIA CELEBRATES RECORD INTERNATIONAL VISITOR SPENDING

25th May 2017 - SEARCH ON FOR AUSTRALIA’S NEXT GENERATION OF TOURISM LEADERS

12th May 2017 - STATE TOURISM BODIES SEE ‘MISSED OPPORTUNITIES’ IN FEDERAL BUDGET

10th May 2017 - FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS TOURISM AUSTRALIA FUNDING, ‘PUTS JOBS AT RISK’

10th March 2017 - PERTH TO PLAY HOST TO 2017 ATEC MEETING PLACE CONFERENCE

12th March 2016 - TTF REVEALS PLAN FOR TOURISM TO ‘TURBOCHARGE’ THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY 

2nd May 2014 - COMMISSION OF AUDIT RECOMMENDS HALVING FUNDING FOR TOURISM AUSTRALIA

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