Minister Barr: Further investment in Canberra events and tourism industry
- Written by ACT Government
Released 24/06/2023
A thriving and expanding visitor economy is important to Canberra’s overall economic growth.
To support our visitor economy, the ACT Government will invest around $5.1 million in the events and tourism industry through the 2023-34 ACT Budget.
The Government will extend the successful Major Event Fund through the 2023-34 ACT Budget with a further $3 million investment in major events, including business events.
Since the Major Event Fund opened in 2011, almost $12 million in funding has been approved to support major events and exhibitions in Canberra. These events have attracted over 5.2 million attendees and delivered around $1 billion in economic return to the ACT.
Canberra will also play host to the UniSport Nationals in 2024, a major sporting event that will attract more than 8,000 athletes from around Australia.
The Government will also continue to invest in initiatives that attract visitors and improve our destination appeal.
This includes continuing our investment in the Aviation Stimulus Fund to attract more direct domestic and international flights to and from Canberra, continuing the Brand Canberra program to promote our city as a great place to live, work and study, extending the successful Tourism Product Development Fund for another year and supporting our year round destination marketing activities.
Quotes attributable to ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr:
Late last year, we launched T2030: ACT Tourism Strategy 2023-2030. This is an ambitious strategy that sets a target to grow our visitor economy to $4 billion by 2030 and outlines how we are going to get there.
Through the Budget we will continue to invest in initiatives that have measurable impact and demonstrated success.
These initiatives will support the growth of the visitor economy and deliver a calendar of events that will attract domestic and international visitors to the ACT.
They will also generate positive economic activity and a net benefit to the ACT through attracting more tourists, sector wide job creation and new investment in tourism products and events.
Quote attributable to Mark Sinderberry, CEO of UniSport Australia:
UniSport Australia is delighted to partner with the ACT Government to bring the UniSport Nationals back to Canberra for the first time since 1996. We look forward to working with the ACT sporting community to deliver a hugely popular and successful event in the ACT.
- Statement ends -
Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
