A new government strategy that aims to grow the value of Australia’s visitor economy to $230 billion by 2030 was launched in Townville on Friday.
Thrive 2030 has been designed to help the tourism industry and governments adopt a plan for sustainable long-term growth in the visitor economy, which pre-COVID was valued at $166 billion.
“Our government’s strategy sets out a long-term plan to rebuild and grow this important sector to new heights, supporting more jobs, businesses and opportunities in the process,” said Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Dan Tehan.
“Australia remains a world-leading visitor destination with the best attractions, the best people, the best lifestyle supported by the best tourism industry and this strategy will ensure we remain a destination of choice into the future.”
To drive this effort, government will put $75.5 million towards support of travel agents and tour arrangement service providers to continue to operate and rebook travel credits — the final round of the Consumer Travel Support Program.
Over three years, $60 million will be spent on attracting more visitors to Australia from new and diverse international markets, while $4.8 million will go towards Tourism Research Australia, to capture and analyse new tourism and visitor data sources.
Government will also invest $2 million over two years in the development of an industry-led visitor economy online employment and skills platform.
According to the 2020-21 Tourism Investment Monitor, there are 225 tourism projects in the pipeline valued at a nearly $43 billion.