Ensuring long-term growth for the visitor economy

We lead Australian Government tourism policy to support Australia’s visitor economy. We oversee THRIVE 2030, the national long-term strategy for the visitor economy.

THRIVE 2030

THRIVE 2030 Strategy is an industry-led, government-enabled plan. It provides an action plan to rebuild and grow the sector.

The visitor economy was Australia’s fourth-largest export sector before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the sector:

  • was worth $166 billion
  • employed 660,000 people.

COVID-19 compounded pre-existing challenges facing the visitor economy. THRIVE 2030 seeks to address these challenges and set out a long-term vision for the sector.

Read THRIVE 2030 

About the visitor economy

The visitor economy covers all visitors who travel to and within Australia. This can be for various reasons, such as:

  • holidays
  • visiting friends and family
  • business
  • work
  • education
  • attending events.

A wide range of industries provide goods and services to visitors including:

  • accommodation
  • transport
  • culture, arts and recreation
  • travel agents and tour operators
  • education and training
  • business event service providers
  • food services
  • retail.

Tourism ministers' meetings

Australian and state and territory government tourism ministers regularly hold meetings to work together on:

  • progressing the national long-term tourism strategy
  • addressing matters of relevance to the visitor economy.

The ministers are supported by the Australian Standing Committee on Tourism (ASCOT). Austrade leads ASCOT. Its other members are state and territory policy and marketing agencies and Tourism Australia.

Meeting communiques

Read about the:

More information

Find out about grants and support for tourism businesses.

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Contact us

Email VisitorEconomy@Austrade.gov.au