Seven point plan to turbo-charge Australia’s visitor economy

The Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) has officially launched its Federal Election Manifesto, calling for the next Federal Government to put tourism and transport at the heart of the nation’s future economy.

Australia’s political parties have been called to support the growth of Australia’s booming visitor economy with an economic strategy focused on promoting tourism and transport.

TTF CEO, Margy Osmond, said that “TTF’s Election Manifesto is a plan to turbo-charge our visitor economy by attracting more international visitors to Australia, encouraging them to stay longer and to return again.”

“Tourism is a super-growth industry that a smart Government will back with a dedicated economic strategy.

The seven point plan calls for the following actions from the next Federal Government:

Reduce the Passenger Movement Charge into a genuine cost-recovery measure for passenger facilitation at Australia’s international gateways;
Slash visitor visa costs and application processing times to make them globally competitive;
Increase investment in Tourism Australia and its destination marketing campaigns to attract more high-yield international visitors;
Support industry in securing its future workforce and address skills challenges;
Develop the visitor economy infrastructure needed to support more visitors to our cities and regional and rural tourism destinations;
Promote investment in major public transport projects that will reduce congestion and improve liveability in our cities; and
Improve the visitor experience at the border through better focused customer service and adoption of new frontline technology.

Osmond has called the plan a common sense a common sense approach to slash fees and charges which add to the cost of travelling to Australia.

The plan supports industry to secure its workforce for the future, builds the visitor infrastructure and public transport that improves the experience of visiting our cities and regions and recognises the importance of a warmer welcome and departure experience at our international gateways.

“Already the tourism industry supports nearly one million jobs and contributes billions to the national economy – we can do even better if our political parties are willing to embrace this seven point plan to make our visitor economy one of the most competitive and attractive in the world,” said Osmond.

“It’s time for all political parties with a month to go until polling day to release their comprehensive tourism and transport policies that respond to our seven point plan to turbo-charge Australia’s visitor economy.”

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federal government tourism Tourism and Transport