Published on : Monday, August 29, 2016
The Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) has congratulated Northern Territory Labor Leader Michael Gunner and his team on their successful election as the next Government of the Northern Territory and looks forward to developing a positive dialogue on growing the Territory’s visitor economy.
TTF released a six point visitor economy plan during the election campaign calling on the major parties to support positive policies that would attract more visitors to the Territory, invest in visitor and transport infrastructure and drive the creation of thousands of new jobs as the mining boom winds up.
The plan calls on the next NT Government to:
1. Invest in destination marketing by permanently locking in an extra $8 million per annum for Tourism NT;
2. Attract more business events and major events to secure a greater share of this lucrative market;
3. Build the visitor infrastructure that will further unlock the Northern Territory’s tourism potential;
4. Improve transport access to and around the Northern Territory and key tourism destinations;
5. Enhance the visitor experience through better connectivity and promotion as a shopping destination; and
6. Work with the industry to secure and train the workforce of the future.
“On behalf of TTF I extend our congratulations to Mr Gunner and his team on their election victory,” said Margy Osmond, TTF CEO.
“The key challenge for the new Government is continuing the transition from the end of the mining boom investment to a diversified Territory economy and we certainly see tourism and transport as having a big part to play in proving jobs and economic activity for the Territory.
“The election of a new Government is a great opportunity to sit down with stakeholders and industry leaders and establish a new dialogue on what steps the Government and the private sector can take to grow the Territory’s visitor economy.
“The NT’s visitor economy performance has been strong in the domestic market but more needs to be done on attracting more international visitors. On the domestic front, 1.4 million Australians (up 37 per cent) visited the Territory and they spent $1.7 billion (up 14 per cent) according to the latest figures.
“Regrettably, the international visitor economy has seen a decline over the same period with 281,000 overseas tourists (down 3 per cent) and spending of $401 million (down 15 per cent). Industry wants to work with the Government to reverse this and instead drive more international visitations to the Territory.
“Tourism has been identified as a super-growth industry for the Australia economy and with the right economic setting from the new Northern Territory Government, industry is confident that the sector will be a critical part of the future NT economy.”
Source:- TTF
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