Labor welcomes Tourism Research Australia’s latest National Visitor Survey (NVS) Results, which highlight an increase in domestic travel by Australians.
The results show strong growth in Queensland, alongside increases in expenditure by visitors to Western Australia.
The data also details greater visitation to regions such as Townsville and Launceston.
Tourism is at the heart of Australia’s economic narrative, contributing $100 billion to our national GDP and employing almost one million people.
Domestic tourism is vital for the ongoing success of this important industry and particularly important in our regions.
Tourism is the lifeblood of regional Australia and statistics show the majority of regions have more people visiting, staying longer and spending more.
While Labor welcomes these figures, we believe more should be done to increase domestic marketing and encourage Australians to explore our country’s many outstanding destinations, increasing expenditure at home.
Every dollar spent on tourism advertising and marketing generates a return of $16, which is why Labor took a policy to the election of increasing funding to Tourism Australia for domestic marketing.
We call on the Government to re-engage with the domestic tourism industry by providing funding for domestic marketing.