New report shows increase in number of Australian Tourism businesses

A new report by Tourism Research Australia has revealed that the number of businesses in Australia's tourism sector grew by about 6% last year.

After some very difficult years, the report's findings are a welcome indicator of growing confidence in the sector, with a rise in the number of businesses recorded in every state and territory.

There are now 358,300 businesses directly involved in the tourism sector – that is 1 in 7 of all Australian businesses.

More than 107,500 of those businesses are in regional Australia, a rise of about 5% on last year.

The report shows that the number of businesses with a turnover of $2 million or more grew 11% last year.

These businesses employ people across the nation and are a large part of the reason that tourism employment is growing again, up 73,100 filled jobs in the latest quarterly statistics.

The report also shows a welcome boost in the number of sole traders in the tourism sector, with an additional 16,400 additional sole traders joining the tourism sector last year, a rise of 10.7%.

Whether driving a bus or taxi, or performing at events or cultural ceremonies, sole traders enhance and enrich the visitor experience.

Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell notes “It's tremendous to see these numbers recovering after such a turbulent period in 2020 and 2021

“We reissued THRIVE 2030, the long-term national tourism strategy, earlier this month, and our $48 million Supporting Australian Tourism and Travel package, confirmed in the October 2022 Budget, is well underway.”

Access report by Tourism Research Australia

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