Promoting Australia To The World - Supporting Our Tourism Industry
Australia's natural environment is the tourism industry's most important asset. The Greens are committed to protecting the environment and caring for the people who work in tourism by ensuring a strong sustainable tourism industry. The mining boom threatens some of our most spectacular places such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Tarkine as well as contributing to driving up the Australian dollar, which has hurt tourism businesses.
> ENSURING THE GROWTH OF TOURISM
Tourism is an important part of the Australian economy. Unfortunately factors such as the high Australian dollar have meant parts of the industry are struggling. Underpinning this industry are over half a million employees and their families who work hard to ensure visitors to their cities, towns and regional areas enjoy their time away.
The Greens will assist the tourism industry by:
- Increasing Tourism Australia's funding by $100 million over the forward estimates to allow an expansion in promotional activities.
- Continuing to stand up for environmental standards and protections so our greatest tourism assets are protected for the long term.
- Providing $3 million of federal funding for a World Heritage Interpretation Centre in Tasmania that complements Tasmania's world heritage areas by telling the story of their establishment.
- Directing $3 million for a digital tourism experiences program to provide funding for the development of smartphone and tablet applications for specific regions that use crowd sourced content to help enhance the visitor experience.
These initiatives will help the tourism industry continue to be an important part of the Australian economy while embracing new technologies. Increased funding for Tourism Australia means they can expand their promotional activities further into established and new and developing markets such as China and Indonesia.
The ongoing fight to protect our precious places especially from the mining boom is critical to the continued growth of the tourism industry.
