Australian Government Announces Tourism Funding Boost for Regions Hardest Hit by Border Closures

Australia's government has revealed a plan to lure tourists back to the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 22 March announced an additional AUD 60 million (USD 44.3 million) in funding to attract international visitors back to Australia following two years of border closures.

Of the funding, AUD 45 million (USD 33.2 million) will be spent on a Tourism Australia marketing campaign for regional destinations hit hardest by the loss of international tourism, with the remaining AUD 15 million (USD 11 million) to go towards promoting the iconic Great Barrier Reef to visitors.

Australia's borders reopened to fully vaccinated international tourists on 21 February about 700 days after they were closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"The return of our international tourism market will support hundreds of thousands of tourism jobs, strengthen our economy," Morrison said in a statement.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 2020-21 financial year, tourism gross domestic product (GDP) fell 37.9% in chain volume terms, the contribution of which to the country's total GDP fell from 2.6% to 1.6%. Meanwhile, the tourism employed persons decreased by 20.3% to 507,000 people.

Due to border closures, the number of international arrivals in Australia fell from about 8.7 million in 2019 to 245,770 in 2021.

Dan Tehan, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, flagged further future support for the industry.