Abbott new tourism poster-boy- vows industry support

With the Australian election just around the corner, the Coalition has pledged AUD90 million to support Australian tourism and claims the Labor Government is not doing enough for the industry.

"Labor has failed to support the tourism sector," Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Shadow Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo said in a joint statement.

"Rather than supporting Australia's tourism industry, Labor has increased tourism taxes, driven up business costs and abolished tourism infrastructure programmes."

The Coalition has promised AUD40 million over four years towards a Tourism Infrastructure and Development Fund which will provide grants up to AUD100,000 for local tourism projects.

A further AUD 14 million dollars will go to promoting domestic travel, the 'bread and butter' of Australia's tourism industry, said the Coalition, while Tourism Research Australia will AUD8 million over four years.

These funds follow the already announced AUD28 million promised to business events tourism.

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) welcomed the Coalition's package and said the Coalition's focus on regional tourism development and funding infrastructure would help operators recover from the recent economic downturn.

"Many tourism operators, including some of our members, have struggled since the GFC wreaked havoc on our source markets," ATEC managing director Matt Hingerty said.

"We need to invest in our tourism offerings and destinations to help them adapt to changing market realities and demographic shifts in our tourist visitor profile."

With Labor's recent announcement of a AUD 40 million boost to Australian tourism, Mr Hingerty said he now feels confident that should either Labor or the Coalition come to power, the industry will benefit.
Tourism is Australia's largest services export earner, creating AUD24 billion in export revenue.

Sourced=etravelblackboard