Coalition releases election policy for tourism

In the lead up to the Federal election on Saturday 7th September, the Federal Coalition has released its 'Policy for Tourism'.

Launched by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Julie Bishop and Shadow Tourism Minister Bob Baldwin, the document contains the tourism policies that will be implemented should the Coalition win the upcoming Federal election.

Key iniatives of the Coalition's Policy for Tourism include:

• Giving the tourism industry a voice where it belongs. Under an elected Coalition Government tourism will become part of the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio to give Australia's largest services export the prominence it deserves in government.

• A renewed focus on export markets. The Coalition will put the focus of Tourism Australia where it can add the most value – marketing Australia to our key export markets. Under an elected Coalition Government responsibility for domestic marketing will return to the States and Territories while Austrade will resume responsibility for international investment attraction.

• A freeze on the Passenger Movement Charge. Labor has increased the Passenger Movement Charge twice, without warning, hitting tourists who travel to Australia with a higher tax burden. The Coalition will freeze the Passenger Movement Charge at $55 for the whole next term of the Parliament.

• Supporting bids for business events. The Coalition recognises the value of the business events sector to the Australian economy and will provide consular and ministerial backing for bids for key international conferences.

• Returning accreditation to industry. An elected Coalition Government will ensure the Tourism Quality Council of Australia and the T-QUAL Accreditation scheme both return to industry by providing $600,000 to transition responsibility for accreditation of tourism products to industry.

Introducing the policy, Shadow Minister Baldwin explained that in the almost three years since becoming Shadow Minister for Tourism "I have travelled to all corners of the country to meet with people who have skin in the game", adding "I hope to have the opportunity to work with you to implement our plan in government and to give the tourism industry a voice where it belongs.

"I am confident the Coalition will end Labor's siloed approach to tourism policy by driving policy reforms and red tape reductions across the Federal Government."

Among a range of industry groups welcoming the Coalition's Policy for Tourism, the Australian Tourism Export Council suggested that it provides a strong platform to support the export tourism industry, recognising the integral role it plays in Australia's international trade.

Welcoming key announcements that include a refocusing of Tourism Australia's marketing, a freeze to the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) and additional funding to build export markets, ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani said the policy clearly focused on the needs of the industry.

Mariani stated "this announcement ... is terrific and places export tourism front and centre as an important element in our national economy.

"The move to include tourism as part of the Trade portfolio, which has previously been bundled with the unrelated and often competitive resources industry responsibilities, is a much better fit and illustrates the valuable export opportunities tourism brings to the Australian economy.

"Freezing the PMC for the next three years is another great move and an example of how the Coalition has listened to the industry and responded favorably.

"ATEC and other industry associations have strongly fought the inappropriate and consistent increases in the PMC which have affected our competitiveness globally."

Mariani said these initiatives, along with improved visa applications for Chinese visitors announced recently, show the Coalition recognises the needs and opportunities of the export tourism sector, adding "initiatives such as electronic lodgement of visas and streamlined application options are vital offerings to a market that is growing as fast as China.

"ATEC is particularly pleased to see Tourism Australia (TA) will drop its domestic marketing focus and apply all its resources to marketing Australia internationally - recognising the strongly growing potential of our export tourism sector.

"The industry has for many years noted the duplication of effort and resources across State and Federal tourism agencies. This sharper focus on driving international demand will give TA and the State Tourism Organisations clearly defined markets and ensure we maximise marketing spend with each body crystal clear on their territory of responsibility."

The increased funding to Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) is another welcomed commitment that will further opportunities for Australian tourism businesses to build their international markets.

"The tourism industry has been keen to engage with the EMDG program, but recent restrictions have made this increasingly difficult. This additional $50 million commitment will be of huge assistance to tourism operators looking to connect directly with the trade in key overseas markets."

ATEC noted that the Coalition's EMDG policy takes away the current requirement that any additional funding be restricted to developing business in new markets outside of the established regions of the US, NZ and UK/Europe.

Here, Mariani concluded "with many tourism operators across the country still very reliant on business from these traditional markets of the West, this will be a welcome announcement to their export efforts in the coming years.

"This policy clearly illustrates that the Coalition has taken the time to engage the industry, find out what we need and then worked to implement our ideas in a way that show's they really have listened closely.

"ATEC welcomes these significant policy initiatives and looks forward to working with the next government on other industry issues including the extension of the Working Holiday Visa scheme."

The full Policy for Tourism document can be downloaded at www.bobbaldwin.com.au/files/pdf/The-Coalition's-Policy-for-Tourism.pdf

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