Thank you, Damien, and good morning everyone.
I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to elders past and present.
Thanks to Travel Daily for organising this fantastic conference.
Travel Daily plays an important role connecting the industry and enabling new ideas to be shared.
I'm delighted to be here today, with so many experienced and respected professionals, who are leading the way in Australia's travel and tourism industry.
Today we're talking about what the next 24 months have in store for the industry.
I think it's important that we continue to have open, constructive conversations about the next 24 months and beyond.
Because you are all at the coalface, and it is by working together that we will get the best outcomes.
We all know that the past few years have been challenging for the travel and tourism industry.
Working with industry bodies and businesses through COVID, I saw firsthand your passion, dedication and commitment and have the greatest respect for the way the industry navigated those obstacles and uncertainty.
Your resilience and response in the hardest of times is admirable.
But we are all understandably eager to stop talking about the tough times and start looking to the opportunities of the future.
Fortunately, we are well along the road to recovery.
International visitor numbers nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023 and domestic tourism spend was well above pre-pandemic levels.
And while we all want those numbers to keep improving, this is good news.
It's good news because domestic and international travel for business, leisure and education is vital for the health of Australia's economy.
Tourism generates significant employment, investment, and growth in communities right across Australia.
This supports hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses, and jobs in every corner of the country…
…With one in seven Australian businesses directly connected to tourism.
Our tourism industry continued to recover in 2023, with total tourism spend in Australia increasing by 19 per cent compared with the previous year.
This solid growth, despite the challenges, demonstrates the resilience of tourism demand, and attractiveness of Australia's tourism offerings to both domestic and international travellers.
And Tourism Australia's metrics back this up.
At a global level, Australia is consistently ranked as one of the top three most desirable holiday destinations in the world, across our key markets.
That desirability and pent-up demand underpinned international visitor spend in Australia reaching $28 billion in 2023, up 121 per cent on the previous year.
And while this is welcomed, like the industry, we are not resting on our laurels.
The Albanese Government is working hard, hand-in-hand with you, to ensure that recovery leads into a bright future for this industry.
We are actively driving the return of international travellers to Australia.
Of course, we are funding the $125 million Come and Say G'Day international marketing campaign run by Tourism Australia.
But that's not all we're doing.
Through our $9 million Reviving International Tourism Grant Program, we are directly supporting tourism businesses to return to international industry events and connect with customers.
In the recent Budget, we announced $8.1 million for the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme over the next four years, and $2.5 million annually on an ongoing basis.
That will provide some certainty for industry on the management of the scheme, which we welcomed the resumption of last year.
While ADS groups are yet to reach the numbers we saw prior to the pandemic, we expect them to grow.
And we know that Chinese travellers who visit on the ADS scheme are more likely to return, explore more of Australia and spend more money as independent travellers.
As well as promoting Australia as a great travel destination, the government is also investing in promotion of the tourism and travel industry as a great career opportunity.
The Choose Tourism Program has produced a range of successful campaigns, programs and events across Australia…
…Encouraging young people, older Australians and people with a disability to consider a career in tourism.
We also know that it's easier to plan for the future when you're armed with quality data.
Which is why we're investing in better insights, by introducing improved data on business events, as well as an interactive dashboard for regional mobility data.
So, there's a lot happening in a lot of areas, and plenty more to come.
I'd like us to cast our minds forward over the next 24 months.
Tourism Research Australia is forecasting that international visitor numbers will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2025…
…And this remains a key focus for us all in the short term…
But we will also start seeing growth in international visitation, above and beyond pre-pandemic levels.
Growth in total visitor spend is forecast to average 6 per cent a year over the next 5 years.
And total short-term visitor spend in Australia is forecast to reach $223.3 billion in 2028, which is 61 per cent above the pre-pandemic level.
But we can't, and shouldn't, expect everything to return to how it was in 2019.
We continue to support and welcome the return of travellers from existing, valuable markets such as China, the UK, the US, and New Zealand.
But we also need to be looking at opportunities to grow with new and emerging markets in Southeast Asia and India.
To support this, Austrade is completing work on a visitor economy diversification strategy to attract high yielding international travellers from a diverse range of markets.
We need to be open to new opportunities, because the international market is highly competitive, and there is no single solution to growing our international visitor numbers.
Demand driving activity, such as the wonderful work done by Tourism Australia and the State and Territory tourism organisations, is important.
But it's equally important that we work together:
- to grow the visitor economy workforce;
- to attract investment in new, high-quality products and experiences;
- and to build industry capability to service travellers from new markets and new market segments.
We also need to take advantage of consumer trends.
I'd like to talk about a couple that we expect will grow in importance over the next 24 months, and let you know what the Government is doing to support you to make the most of those trends.
Those trends are the demand for accessible and sustainable tourism offerings.
Australia's tourism industry is already acting to improve the accessibility of its products, services, and experiences.
And I am very confident the industry will make further progress on that over the next two years.
Welcoming these potential customers is not only the right thing to do, it's also a great opportunity for tourism businesses.
The Government recently launched the WELCOME Framework to help businesses make the most of this opportunity.
The Framework is a straightforward, practical, online guide to help tourism businesses large and small start their accessible tourism journeys.
If you haven't had a look at the WELCOME Framework yet, I encourage you to.
So, why does accessibility present a business opportunity?
Well, it is estimated that 21 per cent of total domestic tourism spend in the June 2023 quarter was by people with accessibility needs, and those travelling with them.
That translates to a spend of $6.8 billion in just three months.
There are already countless Australian tourism businesses that have made simple adjustments to their offerings so they can better include guests with accessibility needs.
A great recent example is the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury Western Australia, which has installed an immersible beach wheelchair that enables people with limited mobility to have an experience of a lifetime with wild dolphins.
But changes can be small, too, like those made by Darwin-based Walking tour company Walk Darwin, which has rewritten its guide instructions to enrich their offering for hearing-impaired customers.
In addition to the WELCOME Framework, the Albanese Government has also supported accessibility upgrades at a number of Australian caravan parks through our Caravan Park Grants Program.
For example, Prime Pet-Friendly Tourist Park in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, used their grant to create and construct a wheelchair accessible holiday cottage.
Through our $8 million funding investment in the Quality Tourism Framework Grant program, the Government is also helping to enhance and improve ATIC's online tourism accreditation program, which includes training on accessibility and sustainability.
Sustainability is already an important consideration in the travel industry, and this focus will continue to grow in the next 24 months and beyond.
Sustainability will be essential for the future success and competitiveness of Australia's visitor economy.
Sustainable travel preserves our natural and cultural assets, respects and nurtures cultures, and creates positive social impact.
Those natural and cultural assets are among the top reasons international travellers want to visit Australia, so it is vital that we protect them.
And we know that visitors are also increasingly demanding sustainable travel experiences.
The latest consumer research by Booking.com shows that 75 per cent of travellers are looking to travel more sustainably.
So, Australian businesses can benefit by adapting and taking action to operate more sustainably.
The Australian Government, together with state and territory governments, are supporting travel businesses to do just that.
We have jointly developed a Sustainable Tourism Toolkit to help businesses respond to the growing demand for sustainable travel choices.
Of course, many tourism businesses are already embracing sustainability and making innovative changes.
Here in New South Wales Hunter Valley, hot air balloon operator Balloon Aloft is minimising their carbon footprint by using rainwater and solar energy.
In my home state of South Australia, visitors to Gemtree Wines in McLaren Vale can not only enjoy delicious wine tastings, but also tour the winery's vineyards to learn about their biodynamic farming methods.
And we have new initiatives to help measure our progress in these areas.
In March, I helped ATIC launch its Tourism Emissions Reduction program.
The program helps businesses develop an emissions estimate, as well as a tailored emissions reduction plan, which can be shared with visitors.
Tourism Research Australia is also developing a range of indicators to better measure the sustainable progress of the visitor economy, across a range of economic, social and environmental indicators.
There's no doubt that the travel sector has a big role to play in achieving our national targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Governments at all levels, will continue to work in lockstep with industry, to do right thing by the planet, while also providing the sustainable options that travellers are increasingly demanding.
Of course, none of these initiatives, frameworks or programs exist in a vacuum.
They align with the goals we've set out in THRIVE 2030, our collaborative national strategy for the long-term sustainable growth of the visitor economy.
We are ahead of schedule on many of the goals laid out in phase one, such as total visitor economy spend, which is already $40.6 billion above the interim 2024 target.
As many of you are no doubt aware, work is underway across the sector to flesh out the action plan for the second phase of the THRIVE 2030 Strategy from 2025.
In recent months, we've been running industry consultation sessions around the country, because we want to ensure that this strategy represents the industry's hopes for itself, and that government resources are effectively directed to where they most benefit you.
Because we know that Australia's travel industry is at its best when it is innovating and collaborating.
And as the Minister for Tourism, I am honoured to work with you to ensure this industry continues to go from strength to strength.
As a country we are blessed with abundant natural beauty, wonderful experiences, and world class food and wine.
But this industry is nothing without each and every one of you, who dedicate your time, energy and effort to ensure visitors, both from home and abroad, have the adventure of a lifetime.
With people like each of you at the core, the outlook has never been brighter, and I can't wait to see all of what we can achieve together.
Thank you.
