The State Government, together with industry leaders, has today released the South Australian Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030 which sets an ambitious, bold agenda for tourism.
Premier Steven Marshall said the industry-led and endorsed Plan aims to grow the state's visitor economy to $12.8 billion by 2030 and generate an additional 16,000 jobs.
"What we have here is a comprehensive roadmap, direct from industry, on how we can work together to take South Australia's visitor economy to new heights," Premier Marshall said.
"This Plan is one of eight different industry sector plans that will form the basis of the State Government's 'Growth State' initiative that aims to promote industry growth by leveraging our competitive advantages, and tourism is a great example of that."
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway said South Australia's Visitor Economy is a key economic pillar of the state.
"It employs 36,000 people across 18,000 businesses, generating $7.2 billion in visitor expenditure. 43 cents of each of those dollars is spent in regional South Australia"
"In order to meet the ambitious target set in the Plan, we need a clear and consistent vision that is created and owned by industry and the South Australian community.
"This Plan will do just that. Almost 700 people have had their say on the future of South Australia's tourism industry, which saw the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) travel 5,000 kilometres to conduct 37 hours of workshops at 16 locations with tourism operators, large and small.
"What the SATC has released today is a Plan for industry, by industry, which builds on the momentum and growth that tourism has achieved over the past decade.
SATC Chairman, Mr Andrew Bullock said industry has identified six key priorities of focus to grow tourism to $12.8 billion by 2030.
"Marketing, Experience & Supply Development, Collaboration, Industry Capability, Leisure & Business Events and Promoting the Value of Tourism are where we will focus our efforts and resources to continue to grow tourism in South Australia," Mr Bullock said.
"Since the South Australian Tourism Plan 2020 was released in 2014, we have grown the value of tourism from $5.1 billion to the current $7.2 billion. In the process we have created 5,000 additional jobs in the sector with 2,000 of these being in regional communities.
"Our state's visitor economy is on track to achieve the original ambition of $8 billion by December 2020.
"While the $8 billion remains a goal, this is now a waypoint on the journey to achieve an even larger visitor economy in the next decade which will benefit the whole of South Australia."
Copies of the South Australian Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030 can be downloaded here: https://tourism.sa.gov.au/research-and-statistics/strategies/tourism-plan-2030
