The ACT budget will include extra funding for marketing campaigns designed to encourage visitors to return to Canberra, after the tourism market nearly halved during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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An extra $1 million will be invested over four years in the Floriade and Enlighten Festivals, key events on the capital tourism calendar.
The spending will include $600,000 for advertising campaigns with industry partners in the current financial year, along with another $1 million for the government's tourism cooperative marketing fund and tourism product development fund grant programs.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr pointed to figures which showed pre-pandemic spending on overnight visits to the ACT peaked at $2.5 billion before falling to $1.38 billion in the year ending September 2021.
"As people begin to travel again, maintaining a strong destination marketing presence will be vital to drive consumer awareness and visitor numbers to Canberra as part of our broader economic plan to grow our local labour market to 250,000 jobs by 2025," Mr Barr said.
Mr Barr said the funding grants to tourism operators had been effective in encouraging businesses to offer new products after the first impacts of the pandemic.
The budget will also include $500,000 for the government's major event fund in the 2022-23 financial year.
Mr Barr said the funding boost would mean even better festivals and events for Canberrans and visitors.
The fund aims to "drive substantial economic impact for the ACT through attendance, as well as enhance the Canberra brand and generate city vibrancy" and offers funding of more than $100,000 to organisers, an applicants' guide says.
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Qatar Airways last week announced it was returning to Canberra, bringing back the first international flights to and from the airport since it and Singapore Airlines left at the start of the pandemic - another sign the tourism industry was beginning to recover.
It means passengers will be able to board in Canberra and fly to Doha, one of the big hubs between European cities and Australia, without transferring from the domestic terminal to the international terminal and re-checking in in Sydney. Luggage will go straight through to the final destination.
Air travellers will also be able to fly directly from Canberra to Coffs Harbour on the NSW Mid North Coast for the first time, with Link Airways to operate a twice-weekly service from September.
The airline's manager of network strategy, Jeff Boyd, said he expected strong demand for the flights, which would provide business and leisure links between Canberra and the "much-loved destination of Coffs Harbour".
MORE A.C.T. BUDGET 2022-23
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
