A new report from Austrade has found that one in every seven new jobs created in the ACT in 2016–17 was in the tourism sector.
Published by Austrade’s Tourism Research Australia, the data reveal tourism employment growth in the Territory outpaced overall employment growth.
Chief Minister and Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Andrew Barr welcomed the report, saying its findings came as no surprise.
“We continue to see unprecedented growth in our tourism industry,” Mr Barr said.
“The Government has worked with industry to help diversify our economy away from reliance on the Federal Public Service and to create jobs in new industries.”
He said the ACT Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) shows of the 217,000 jobs in the ACT for 2016–17, tourism generated 16,800 — an estimated 1,100 more than the previous financial year.
Mr Barr said this represented a 7.1 per cent increase for tourism growth when compared with the 3.1 per cent general ACT employment growth.
“Tourism’s contribution to the ACT’s gross state product grew 9.5 per cent between 2015–16 and 2016–17 — the second highest nationally behind Tasmania and ahead of the national average of 5.6 per cent,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr Barr said the Government continues to support major events that build on Canberra’s appeal to a wide tourist market.
“With a second international airline now flying directly to Canberra, we have opened our doors even further, allowing people to reach our capital easily and quickly through Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines,” he said.
