Tourism industry shows signs of bounce back
Positive accommodation results for the month of April indicate the ACT Government's investment in Canberra's tourism industry to attract more visitors to the region is working.
The ACT Government has an ambitious goal of growing total annual domestic visitor spend from $1.28 billion in September last year, back to $2.5 billion by mid-2022.
The latest hotel occupancy rates show more people are visiting Canberra, with occupancy levels in the city's commercial accommodation at 73.2 per cent for April 2021, ahead of the national average of 60.7 per cent, according to STR Global.
This demonstrates a significant rebound from April 2020 when occupancy levels reached just 13.7 per cent.
The ACT Government is investing in our visitor economy to support economic development, create opportunities for tourism businesses to drive demand, develop new initiatives and create jobs.
Our region is now being serviced by the most extensive domestic aviation network in our history, and competition between airlines is making it cheaper and easier to visit Canberra.
The COVID-Safe Tourism Co-Investment Program, supports businesses to develop COVID-safe tourism products and infrastructure to provide new experiences that bring more visitors to Canberra.
A total of 15 businesses have been funded, that will result in an additional $2.7 million being invested in new product and experiences. Projects range from dining domes to cellar door outdoor seating and new shuttle bus services through to development of new products like a night safari at the National Zoo & Aquarium and an ice age exhibit at the National Dinosaur Museum.
The Tourism Cooperative Marketing Fund is also providing funding to local tourism operators for campaigns that seek to attract visitors to the ACT. To date it has invested in 24 projects to benefit 87 businesses.
In partnership with the Canberra Airport, for the first time in more than a decade the city now has direct flights to every capital city in the country and is better connected to the rest of Australia than ever before following the establishment of new routes between Canberra and the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Hobart, Port Macquarie, and Darwin.
The ACT Government remains committed to the recovery of the tourism industry as set out in the Framework for Recovery of the Visitor Economy and its Action Plan.