The ACT Government is increasing financial support to strengthen our local tourism industry recovery.
The ACT's visitor economy was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic, expenditure from overnight visitation peaked at an all-time high of $2.5 billion. This almost halved ($1.38 billion) for the year ending September 2021.
The 2022-23 ACT Budget will boost our visitor economy in the short, medium and longer term, with an additional $600,000 for targeted domestic and international destination marketing with industry partners in 2022‑23.
As people begin to travel again, maintaining a strong destination marketing presence will be vital to drive consumer awareness and visitor numbers to Canberra as part of our broader economic plan to grow our local labour market to 250,000 jobs by 2025.
The Budget also includes $1 million to further support tourism businesses and jobs through the Tourism Cooperative Marketing Fund and Tourism Product Development Fund grant programs.
These programs have been very effective in driving marketing co-investment and helping businesses roll out new product offerings following the initial impacts of the pandemic. Given the success of the initial grants rounds, we are pleased to extend the programs through this budget.
An additional $1 million over four years will also be invested to support Floriade and the Enlighten Festival. A further $500,000 will be invested in the Major Event Fund in 2022-23 to support high quality events and exhibitions. This will mean even better festivals and events for locals and tourists
As domestic and international travel recovers, the ACT Government is investing in enhanced destination marketing activity, tourism industry development and a high-quality community and major events calendar to support the local tourism industry, drive our economic recovery and create jobs.
