TTF urges Vic govt to make tourism a priority

TTF urges Vic govt to make tourism a priority
By admin


With just six weeks until state elections, the Transport & Tourism Forum (TTF) has released its Victorian Tourism Business Count & Employment Atlas which highlights the vital role tourism plays in the economic activity of the state.

The Atlas unpacks the components of direct tourism employment according to state electoral district, as well as including a count of tourism businesses by industry and individual profiles that show jobs and tourism-related businesses by electorate.

TTF is also releasing its tourism priorities document Victorian Tourism: Backing Our Strengths – An Agenda for the Victorian Government to emphasise through an eight-point plan the key projects and investments required to ensure the state’s tourism industry continues to thrive.

TTF’s chief executive officer Margy Osmond said tourism accounts for at least 3.6% of employment across Victoria.

“Visitors are encouraged to ‘love every piece of Victoria’ and the Atlas shows why the Victorian government should love the tourism industry,” she said.

With tourists spending more than $53 million each day across Victoria, the Atlas shows how this expenditure supports 70,000 tourism businesses and more than 124,000 direct tourism jobs, with the industry also providing a further 79,000 indirect jobs across the state.

“These figures demonstrate the importance of the visitor economy to every piece of Victoria, and mean that tourism must be high on the agenda of all political parties as we head towards the state election on November 29,” Osmond said.

According to TTF, four of the ten seats in the upcoming election that are most dependent on tourism for direct employment are held by margins of less than 4.7%, with at least 6% of employment in all ten electorates coming from direct tourism jobs.

“Of those ten electorates, four are in the inner city, two are outer metropolitan and four are in regional areas, providing another indication of the importance of tourism’s contribution to the economy across Victoria,” Osmond said.

“We are encouraging all parties to make tourism a priority ahead of the Victorian election.”

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