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The peak body for Australia’s regional tourism industry is calling for $13.95 million to support farmers to diversify into tourism, increase high-yield export ready product, strengthen Australia’s regional economies and grow on-farm agritourism from $7.4 billion to $18.6 billion by 2030.

Explaining the call by Australian Regional Tourism (ART) for $10 million in direct-to-farm grant funding and $3.95 million in industry development, ART Chair, Coralie Bell says “Australia’s first National Agritourism Strategy Framework identified the primary barrier to developing the sector is government red tape and regulations.

“We need the Federal government to work with industry to unlock the sector and enable our regional communities to thrive.

“Australian agritourism is distinctive and diverse and has the opportunity to become a major export sector of tourism. Agritourism includes farmers, makers and Indigenous land managers and appeals to domestic visitors and a growing number of international high yield travellers.

“Agritourism 2030 calls for $13.95 million to invest in a range of initiatives designed to provide sector leadership, grow farmer participation, grow skills and jobs in regional areas and provide the platforms to underpin marketing of the sector through Tourism Australia and the states and territories tourism organisations”.

In 2018/19, Australian tourism contributed $153 billion to the economy with 43 cents in every dollar spent regionally. It supported over 300,000 businesses and employed more than 660,000 Australians.

For regional Australia to recover to 2019 levels and achieve the long-term target set within the THRIVE 2030 strategy, $100 billion by 2030, Australia will need new, distinctive, sustainable experiences that are export market ready.

Bell added “the outcome would be readying the Agritourism sector for export market growth, attracting growing numbers of international high yield visitors to regional Australia between now and 2030.”

Click here to view the National Agritourism Strategy Framework.

Main image courtesy of Western Australia's Out & About Wine Tours.

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