TOURISM INDUSTRY ROUND-TABLE COMMUNIQUE

CEOs of Australia’s leading visitor economy organisations met with Federal Tourism Minister Richard Colbeck this morning in Canberra.

The meeting discussed the tourism industry’s priorities ahead of the 2016 Federal Election.
It was a productive discussion which canvassed the industry’s proposed reform agenda that will continue to grow Australia’s robust tourism sector which generates more than $113 billion in consumption and supports 925,100 direct and indirect jobs

Tourism is a super growth industry of the Australian economy and is vital for Australia’s continued prosperity. During a period of economic transition from the conclusion of the peak mining construction boom to a diversified services economy for the nation, tourism has been a stand out performer with remarkable growth figures well above the national average.

The tourism industry has called on the Federal Government to take action on the following measures:

• Continuing the freeze of the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC)
• Reducing the cost of visas for key and emerging markets such as China and Indonesia and continuing to invest in streamlining the visa application process;
• Providing a substantial, game-changing investment in destination marketing to help us reach the Tourism 2020 targets; and
• Support new initiatives to develop and increase the workforce of the visitor economy.
• These measures are common sense reforms that will support further employment and economic activity that will continue to maintain our envied quality of life.

The tourism industry looks forward to developing this dialogue further with Government and the Opposition ahead of the Federal Election later this year.