Grants and support for tourism businesses

Grants and support are available to help Australian tourism businesses succeed.

Find grants and support

You can find grants and support programs at:

• Grants & Programs finder on business.gov.au
• COVID-19 government assistance for business on business.gov.au
• Programs supporting the mental health of small business owners on business.gov.au
• GrantConnect on grants.gov.au
• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications on infrastructure.gov.au/aviation
• Department of Education, Skills and Employment on dese.gov.au/employment
• Tourism Australia, which runs programs for:
• distribution partners
• industry
• international media.

Austrade grants and support

We have a range of programs to help tourism businesses and organisations. These include:

• COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support. This provides grants to eligible travel agents and tour arrangement service providers
• the Business Events Grants program. This provides grants between $10,000 and $250,000 to cover attendance costs at business events
• the Zoos and Aquariums program. This helps cover operations costs of caring for animals during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Export Market Development Grants. These provide up to 50% off eligible export promotion expenses above $5,000 for new and current exporters
• Tourism Aviation Network Support. This program halves the price of airfares to select tourism regions to boost domestic travel demand.

Workforce support programs

The Australian Government offers workforce support for businesses. Support includes:

• Australian Apprenticeships Support Network on the Australian Apprenticeships website
• Job active/Transition to Work  on the Job Search website
• Job Trainer on the My Skills website
• Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme on the PALM scheme website.

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment has support available, including:

• Launch into Work Program
• Local Jobs Program
• National Work Experience Programme + Youth Path
• PaTh Business Placement Partnership.

Indigenous tourism operator grants

The National Indigenous Australians Agency has information about the Indigenous Tourism Fund. It provides business support and grants for Indigenous tourism operators and community organisations.

Heritage grants

Find information about the Australian Heritage Grants program on the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment website. The program provides support to protect and promote national heritage listed places.

Regional tourism grants

Regional tourism grants and programs include the:

• Recovery for Regional Tourism Fund. This provides support for tourism businesses to pivot to the domestic market
• Regional Recovery Partnerships program on infrastructure.gov.au. This provides support for growth and recovery of ten priority regions
• Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants. This provides support for bushfire affected regions.

Support by state or territory

You may be eligible for grants and support programs depending on your state or territory.

Specific information on COVID-19 support delivered by your State or Territory is available on business.gov.au.   

Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

• Tourism funding, tourism.act.gov.au
• ACT Event Fund, Events Canberra
• Arts grants, Arts ACT
• Heritage grants, Environment, Planning & Sustainable Development Directorate
• Business grants, ACT Business
• General grants, Grants ACT
• COVID-19 economic support for business, ACT Government

New South Wales (NSW)

• Tourism & Event Grants, Destination NSW
• Regional Tourism Grants, NSW Government
• General Grants, NSW Government (includes specific COVID-19 support)
• Arts Grants, Create NSW
• Heritage Grants, Heritage NSW

Northern Territory (NT)

• Tourism Grants, Tourism NT
• Event Funding, NT Major Events
• General Grants, NT Government
• Arts, culture and heritage Grants, NT Government
• Business Grants and Funding (incl. Infrastructure), NT Government
• Business Recovery grants and funding, NT Government

Queensland

• Tourism Industry Support, Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
• Events grants, Tourism & Events Queensland
• Business grants, (including specific COVID-19 supports) Business Queensland
• Great Barrier Reef Grants, Great Barrier Reef Foundation
• General Grants, Grant Services Queensland
• Arts Grants, Arts Queensland
• Infrastructure grants, State Development Queensland

South Australia

• Tourism Industry Assistance, South Australian Government Financing Authority
• Tourism Grants, South Australian Tourism Commission
• Event Grants, South Australian Tourism Commission
• Entrepreneur and Start Up funding, Innovation and Skills South Australia
• General Grants, South Australian Government
• Arts Grants, Department of the Premier and Cabinet
• Heritage Grants, Department for Environment and Water

Tasmania

• Tourism Industry Grants, Department of State Growth 
• General Grants, Department of State Growth
• Events Grants & Funding, Events Tasmania
• Heritage Grants, Heritage Tasmania
• Business Support, Business Tasmania
• Arts Grants, Arts Tasmania

Victoria

• Tourism Financial Support (State), Business Victoria
• Tourism Financial Support, Local Councils
• Business Grants, (including Tourism business support) Business Victoria
• Events Grants and Support, Creative Victoria
• COVID-19 Business grants and support, Victorian Government
• Heritage Grants, Heritage Victoria

Western Australia (WA)

• Tourism Funding and Grants, Tourism WA
• Small Business Grants, Small Business WA
• Events Funding and Support, Tourism WA
• Culture and Arts Funding, WA Government
• COVID-19 Support, WA Government
• Heritage Grants, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage

Self-help resilience kits

Self-help resilience kits are available to help tourism businesses and organisations prepare, respond and recover:

• Don’t Risk It – A guide to assist tourism businesses to prepare, respond and recover from a crisis
• Don’t risk it – Industry resilience kits for regional tourism organisations

Selling or closing your business

If you are considering closing your business, business.gov.au and the ATO Tax Time toolkit have information to:

• help you assess if closing your business is the right decision
• explain how to complete your legal and tax obligations.

Specific support is also available for Indigenous businesses.