IF LABOR is to seize power at the federal election on Sat, the party’s leader Anthony Albanese has pledged to allocate $48 million to help the country’s travel and tourism sectors recover from the pandemic.

The major funding package includes $10 million to enable tourism businesses to re-enter the international market, including wholesalers and exporters, through activities such as expos, marketing campaigns and development schemes.

A further $10 million will be stumped up to attract more workers to the sector from overseas, while another $10 million will be invested over the next two years into expanding the Accommodation Association’s hospitality portal, which offers a range of training and upskilling opportunities for workers.

The Caravan Park industry will also be big winners if Albanese can muster the votes, with $10 million planned for upgrades to sites around the country to maintain a growing pool of family tourism accommodation options.

Finally, $8 million will be provided for the Quality Tourism Framework, which in partnership with Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC) seeks to help small tourism businesses in the sector survive and prosper.

“This funding will provide mentoring, support and programs to assist new tourism businesses start up and develop new tourism product to meet the market,” ATIC Chair Evan Hall said.

Summing up the tourism package, Shadow Tourism Minister Don Farrell said the funding showed that Labor can be relied upon for a recovery.

“The travel and tourism industries have done it tough over the past two and half years…an Albanese Govt will stand with the sector, working with owners and operators,” he pledged.

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TOURISM Western Australia has partnered with The Travel Corporation’s AAT Kings brand to introduce a range of savings on tours, as part of the state’s Wander out Yonder campaign.

The collaboration will see discounts on the operator’s most popular itineraries departing through to 2024, including a $600 saving on AAT’s 15-day Western Wonderland tour, as well as a $400 discount on the South Western Escape adventure.

After a lengthy period of being siphoned off from the rest of the country as a result of risk-averse border protocols, Tourism WA’s Managing Director Carolyn Turnbull said the tie-up with AAT Kings would play a major role in increasing holiday booking recovery over the next few years.

“We’re pleased to partner with AAT Kings to promote the wonderful deals on offer for visitors, which will take travellers to some of the most iconic destinations across Western Australia,” she said.

Agent tools have also been created to help advisors understand and sell WA’s latest campaign push, with marketing assets such as photos, posters, and social media tiles available to access HERE.

Travel under the promotion must be booked between now and 26 Jul for select travel dates.

Find out more about which AAT Kings WA tours apply to the promotion HERE.

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MORE than 374,000 arrivals came to Australia in Mar, while more than 335,000 departed our shores – both representing monthly increases of more than 100,000 travellers.

Both numbers are some of the largest increases since the pandemic, with the leading source country for arrivals being the United Kingdom, which accounted for 17% of the total, followed by New Zealand & India.

Meanwhile India was the most popular destination for short-term outbound travel, accounting for 13% of the total volume, followed by the traditional mainstays of the United States and the United Kingdom.

However, despite large gains made by the tourism industry, the total number of visitor arrivals for Mar was still 80.7% lower than Mar 2019, while the total number of resident returns was 80.6% lower than pre-COVID.

There are also some jurisdictions faring better than others, with New South Wales welcoming in 59,440 arrivals, and the NT less than 1,000 (650).

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THE Travel Corporation (TTC) has shared its first Impact Report, highlighting how it is advancing its sustainable initiatives.

In the 15 months since the launch of its sustainability strategy, “How We Tread Right”, TTC has been working toward achieving its 11 goals, which are tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The Impact Report highlights the progress made among its family of brands in the areas of climate action, food waste reduction, supporting developing nations, animal welfare, and many more.

Progress made so far includes TTC’s development of net zero targets, which are currently under review and will be shared in more detail later this year.

Part of the success involved a number of TTC brands, including Contiki, Radical Travel Group’s HAGGiS Adventures, and Highland Explorer Tours announcing carbon neutral trips, departing from Jan 2022.

TTC also introduced 554 Make Travel Matter Experiences across 51% of its itineraries, surpassing its goal of reaching 50% by 2025.

“This first, and future Impact Reports, enable us to evaluate the progress we’re making as a company as well as individual brands, so we can track our increasing achievements and acknowledge the areas that need more work,” TTC’s Chief Sustainability Officer Shannon Guihan said.

“We are singularly focused on the success of these actions on the issues we aim to address, and recognize that our impact can only be understood through measurement and transparency.”

View the full report HERE.

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TOURISM Australia (TA) Managing Director Phillipa Harrison this morning formally opened Australian Tourism Exchange 2022 – the first time Australia has been showcased in person to buyers from around the world in over two years.

More than 1,300 delegates are attending the event at ICC Sydney this week, including around 550 international buyers – and in a welcome reflection of normality the “bump-in” for the show had to be shortened because the convention centre was so busy.

Harrison cited figures showing that with the full reopening of borders, as at 01 May Australia was already back to 42% of 2019 international traveller arrivals, but noted that the growth was currently constrained by aviation capacity which is a key focus for governments and airports across the country at present.

“The flights are full, there’s lots of demand and it’s great to see airlines responding to that – it’s a crucial piece of the recovery puzzle,” Harrison said.

After an initial rush driven by VFR traffic, bookings have slowed in line with the “natural sales dip in the winter period,” but Harrison said there was really good business building for the second half of the year, when about 60% of pre-COVID inbound capacity is expected to be flying.

Standout markets include Singapore, where flight bookings to Australia are up 59% compared to the same week in May 2019, while the UK is back to about 65% of 2019 volumes.

Harrison noted recent TA consumer research which found “the world now believes there has never been a safer time to travel to and around Australia,” while also mentioning the intriguing new Digital Nomad customer segment, bookers of extended stays in Australia who work remotely while they’re here.

MEANWHILE the Tourism Australia MD also confirmed that post-pandemic, the organisation’s focus will firmly shift back to driving inbound tourism, rather than the domestic elements which featured during COVID-19.

“We have some great legacy programs in the domestic market,” she said, including a public relations presence.

However while the domestic version of the Aussie Specialist Program will also remain in place, “really our job and focus now is about rebuilding inbound tourism,” Harrison told TD.

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