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Hon Kon Vatskalis - Minister for TourismBudget 2008 - Building Tourism Supply through new and refreshed Tourism Product

Budget 2008 was handed down on Tuesday 6 May, one that creates jobs, grows the economy and continues to enhance this terrific Territory lifestyle.

Tourism NT has been allocated $39.4 million in 2008-09 – a 45% increase since 2001. 

This year Tourism NT will place a concerted effort on the supply side of tourism economics which will also assist marketing efforts, particularly internationally, as new and refreshed product is introduced to the marketplace.

Key initiatives include:

These initiatives are designed to meet the strategic challenges facing the local industry.  Challenges such as rapid change in tourism distribution channels, growing consideration of climate change and environmental sustainability factors, increasing demand for authentic Indigenous tourism experiences, increasing competition in global aviation markets and a wide variety of economic drivers such as increased domestic interest rates and a slowing in global economic growth.

While the Northern Territory accounts for only a small part of the national tourism industry, we have always punched above our weight.  Tourism is a key industry sector in the Northern Territory, accounting for 11.7% of employment and contributing 6.7% in Gross Value Added to the economy.  This compares to 4.7% of employment and 3.8% of Gross Value Added nationally.  Tourism has a broad impact on many other industry sectors, which makes it everyone’s business.  We hosted 1.45 million visitors within the NT last calendar year. 

Budget 2008 builds on the strong performance of the tourism industry over the past few years.  Our investment in tourism provides jobs for Territorians, growth in the economy and improved facilities and services, delivering a better lifestyle for all Territorians.

Kon Vatskalis
Minister for Tourism

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