Tourism group says South Australia needs $50 million for international marketing

The South Australian Tourism Industry Council has called on the South Australian Government to boost the marketing budget for its Tourism SA agency in order to promote the state in international markets.

Speaking to Adelaide newspaper The Advertiser, South Australian Tourism Industry Council Chief Executive Shaun de Bruyn said the budget needs a 40% increase to $50 million a year to boost visitor growth, advising “unless our State Government further invests, we risk losing our competitiveness.

“Now is the time for our State Government to further invest, with industry calling for the imminent state budget to highlight a strong commitment to the visitor economy in South Australia.”

Foreign visitors numbers to South Australia dropped by 3% in the 12 months to December 2018 along with a 3% drop in expenditure, according to figures released last month.

De Bruyn added “there is fierce competition both nationally and globally, and our growth is less than the national average.

“This itself supports the argument that much more needs to be done if we want to remain competitive.”

Image: South Australia's Barossa Valley.