Items Tagged With "Tourism "

The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has welcomed today’s release of Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey showing the Australian tourism industry out-performed the rest of the world last year.

Despite the global economy contracting for the first time since World War II, international visitor arrivals to Australia in 2009 matched 2008 levels at 5.6 million.  Visitor nights increased six per cent and visitor expenditure increased by five per cent.

Australian Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, and New Zealand Minister for Research Science and Technology, Wayne Mapp, launched the first Antarctic Whale Research Expedition as part of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership in Wellington today.

“This expedition – the largest of its kind in the world - demonstrates the Government's position that non-lethal whale research can provide all the information needed to understand and conserve whales,” Mr Garrett said.

The Australian and Victorian Governments met with tourism operators and representatives in Narbethong today to discuss the final details of the $10 million Victorian Bushfire Tourism Industry Support Package.

The Australian Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and the Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister, Tim Holding, outlined the joint government support for tourism in the badly affected Mitchell and Murrindindi shires and support for events in other bushfire affected areas.

The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, today launched a $20 million partnership between Tourism Australia and the Australian tourism industry which will capitalise upon the global economic recovery and stimulate travel to Australia from our top regional trading partners.

Minister Ferguson last October announced that $9 million in marketing funding would be brought forward for a short-term campaign and he today welcomed the further $11 million contribution of airlines and state and regional tourism organisations.

Today, Anthony Albanese, Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and Paul Lucas, Queensland Deputy Premier, officially opened the $100 million terminal redevelopment at Gold Coast Airport.

Minister Albanese said that the new terminal was more than double the size of the previous terminal at over 30,000 square metres.

"Completed two months ahead of schedule, this major infrastructure project employed 1,850 people during construction, delivering a significant boost to the economy.

* Release by Martin Ferguson & Craig Emerson

More than 50,000 small businesses will benefit from $14 million in Rudd Government funding to help them go online or upgrade their internet presentation.

The funding is being provided from the Rudd Government's $10 million Small Business Online program which has been boosted by another $4 million to extend it to more tourism small business operators.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett today approved the new management plan for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, including a requirement that clear preconditions be met before any plans to replace the climb with new visitor experiences could proceed.
Mr Garrett said the plan was prepared by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management who had responded to public feedback on its draft plan, released last July, by developing the preconditions.

The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has outlined the Government’s commitment to a strong and competitive tourism industry, unveiling the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy  and announcing more than $8 million in TQUAL Grants funding.