Visa changes to boost education tourism

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement of a fast-track visa system for international students looking to study in Australia, as a significant show of support for one of our largest export industries.
ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani, said the changed conditions, which will come into affect mid-next year, will help to boost not only the international education sector but the tourism industry and the overall economy.
Mariani stated "the onerous visa rules and application processes currently in place have clearly had a negative impact on Australia's ability to compete in the global education marke.
"These significant changes are a strong and sensible move towards supporting Australia's services sector to compete in the international arena and combat some of the current challenges, such as our high dollar."
Mariani said the changes would have many positive impacts on Australia's tourism industry including encouraging international visitation, increasing regional tourism numbers and providing a potential pool of labour for the industry, adding "international students not only encourage their families and friends to visit Australia, they are eager to get out and about in regional Australia to learn more about our country, and this has obvious benefits for the tourism industry.
"The Australian tourism industry, particularly in regional areas, is struggling to get the labour and skills needed and many of these students will look for low-skilled work in the tourism industry.
"ATEC congratulates the Federal Government in embracing such a positive range of changes."
Mariani said earlier this year ATEC provided input into the National Tourism Alliance (NTA) submission on the Strategic Review of Student Visas calling for changes to the eligibility and conditions of the visa for international students.
She concluded that "ATEC is also calling on the Government to change working holiday visa arrangements including extending the definition to allow travellers to stay an extra year in return for taking work in a regional tourism area, an increase in the age limits and allowing young people to apply for the visa a second time.
"We look forward to seeing similar changes to the working holiday visa that will further support Australia's tourism industry, regional communities and our overall economy."