ACT Government reveals plans to grow tourism sector to $4 billion a year by 2030

The ACT Government has revealed a long-term tourism strategy that aims to return its visitor economy to a pre pandemic level of $2.5 billion in annual overnight visitor expenditure by 2026.

The ACT Government’s T2030: ACT Tourism Strategy 2023-2030 aims to grow the value of its visitor economy to $3.1 billion by 2025, and $4 billion by 2030, including both overnight and day trip expenditure from visitors.

The strategy will focus on increasing employment in the tourism industry from 18,500 to 22,750 and identify ways to increase Canberra’s air connectivity to more cities domestically and internationally.

The launch of the tourism strategy follows an increase in visitors to Canberra in recent months, strong hotel occupancy and the number of domestic overnight visitors, and their expenditure, higher than it was during the equivalent period in 2019.

Launching the strategy, ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr stated "we want visitors to our city to leave with a greater appreciation for Canberra and to feel fulfilled, educated and wanting to tell others about the quality of the diverse experiences on offer,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said in a statement.

“We also want visitors to think about our city and region as a great place to live, study, work and invest, with a reputation as progressive, inclusive and welcoming to all.”

The first action plan will be released in early 2023.