Tourism and Transport Forum warns against States becoming complacent on tourism spend  

New research conducted by consultancy group Sayers and released today by Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) provides “food for thought” for respective State Governments competing for a slice of the tourism dollar with TTF Chief Executive Margy Osmond warning they can’t afford to be complacent as domestic travel steps up and international borders gradually reopen.

According to the research, Victoria has consistently outperformed the rest of the nation when it comes to return on destination marketing investment.

The research found that for the last three years Victoria yielded more than 300 times its investment per person on destination marketing peaking at over 400 times in 2018/19 - over double its closest rival.

Queensland also fared well coming in second in two out of three financial years for the period the research covered while WA and NSW filled the minor placings in two years and one year respectively.

In one of the other key metrics used to rank the states, tourism infrastructure investment, the Northern Territory came up trumps with the highest spend per capita of $461 per person almost three times its closest competitor NSW at $166 per person with Western Australia coming in third at $78 per person.

However, Queensland and Victoria performed below average on this barometer ranking fifth and sixth respectively.

Osmond notes “Victoria may be in the midst of its fourth lockdown but the State Government there has responded with record funding to help revive an industry in crisis and as soon as restrictions are lifted will be fighting hard to restore its mantle as the nation’s events capital.

“With State Budgets imminent in Queensland (15th June) and NSW and South Australia (22nd June) Treasuries in those states need to step up their spending on the visitor economy to retain market share domestically and in preparation for the opening of international borders in 2022.

“The Australian tourism industry has felt the full force of the pandemic and competition between the states remains fierce and will only become increasingly so as we emerge from the pandemic and the battle to attract key international markets begins in earnest.

“TTF is calling on the Queensland, NSW and SA Governments to up their spend on tourism in the upcoming budgets including a significant uptick in funding to their destination agencies and a raft of measures including aviation attraction funds to help fund the recovery of this critical sector.”