30 March 2022

The Federal Budget 2022-23 confirmed the Australian Government’s additional commitment to the 300,000 businesses employing one million Australian workers in our visitor economy.

The Government’s THRIVE 2030 strategy and action plan aims to continue to support the recovery and sustainable growth of the tourism sector, with a $60 million Tourism Marketing Recovery Plan to attract international tourists. The Government is also committing $75.5 million for an additional round of the Consumer Travel Support Program for travel agents and tour arrangement service providers so that these businesses can respond to the rising demand for international travel.

The targeted objective of the THRIVE 2030 strategy is to grow the value of the visitor economy by almost 40% by 2030 driven by three core themes: collaboration, modernisation, and diversification.

With additional support for the Business Events bid fund to attract more major events to Australia, the return expected from the additional investment is to grow the visitor economy from a pre-COVID-19 value of $166 billion to $230 billion by 2030. The additional support includes:

• $2 million over two years for the development of an industry led visitor economy online employment and skills platform.

• $4.8 million for Tourism Research Australia to capture and analyse new tourism and visitor data sources to support businesses, organisations and governments to make more timely and informed business decisions.

The THRIVE 2030 strategy sets out a long-term plan to bounce back after the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and rebuild and grow the sector, supporting more jobs, businesses and opportunities in the process. The Federal Government is aiming to work with states and territories, regional communities and tourism operators to deliver significant and sustainable benefits to the Australian community.

Three advisory groups will help provide guidance to the implementation of the THRIVE 2030 strategy.

1. An advisory group will report on the implementation of the visitor economy strategy.

2. An Industry Data and Expert Analysis Working Group will identify information and data needs of visitor economy participants.

3. A Workforce and Skills Technical Working Group will help visitor economy businesses develop a world-class workforce with the right skills to meet the needs of visitors.

In addition to the THRIVE 2030 funding commitment, the Budget allocated $132 million for Central Australian tourism roads in the Northern Territory. Part of $18 billion in road infrastructure funding commitments, the $132 million is committed to seal the Mereenie Loop tourist drive, which connects Alice Springs to Kings Canyon and Uluru. An additional $50 million has been earmarked for upgrading the Alice Springs to Halls Creek corridor as part of an ongoing road project connecting the NT to Western Australia and Queensland.

****Check out the full coveragefrom the Federal Budget 2022-23, which will continue to develop throughout the week as new insights and video content are published.