ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said the industry faces a tough restart with inbound holiday visitation still lagging well behind numbers seen leading up to the 2020 border closures with monthly numbers around 300,000 fewer than 2019.
The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) welcomed the Federal Budget outlined last night which sees vital funding continue to flow to a recovering industry.
“We are pleased to see the new Labor Government has retained its important pre-election commitments to the industry including support for tourism sector recovery, up-skilling workers, helping get tourism businesses back into the marketplace, supporting quality tourism products and delivering infrastructure upgrades,” ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said.
“Along with funding for packages including workforce, capability and better industry research, the budget provides our main marketing force, Tourism Australia, with a top up of funds to help us in this vital period of transition.
“Funding for the Export Marketing Development Grants has been maintained while many other areas of the budget have been trimmed, recognising the importance this program plays in helping Australian tourism businesses access the international marketplace and we are pleased that Tourism Research Australia will have extra funding to help modernise their data collection for the industry.”
Mr Shelley said the industry faces a tough restart with inbound holiday visitation still lagging well behind numbers seen leading up to the 2020 border closures with monthly numbers around 300,000 fewer than 2019.
“While indications show our air capacity will start to return as we head into 2023 our industry’s challenge will be to ensure we are able to facilitate the smooth conversion of inquiries into bookings and we will need the strong support of government to help us address the imbalance between Australian holiday makers heading overseas and the slower take up of the inbound market.
“A commitment from governments, both state and federal, to support the rebuild of our industry will be a crucial factor in helping to recover our $45bn export tourism industry and get visitors back to our destination.
“As we move into 2023 and increasing visitor numbers, we are pleased to see Tourism Australia is back in the marketplace helping to sell Australia, and our industry is ready to work alongside them in putting Australia back on the most coveted destination list.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
