The latest ABS figures on overseas arrivals released today is a timely reminder on the eve of a Federal Election why all political parties need to be developing a strong suite of policies that will help turbo-charge what is one of the Australian economy’s top performing sectors – the visitor economy.

The latest ABS Overseas Arrivals figures released today confirm that 7.7 million people travelled to Australia over the past 12 months – up 8.7 per cent on the previous year.

“Tourism is the industry that party policies need to back in the upcoming election campaign there is no doubt about that,” said Margy Osmond, TTF CEO.

“The strong performance of the visitor economy has been the standout performer for the Australian economy – an industry in which double digit growth on key indicators has been the norm – and yet we are not getting the attention the industry deserves.

“The Federal Election will be the opportunity for every political party to release a policy platform that supports the visitor economy and our goals to significantly boost its economic contribution to the nation and create thousands of more jobs.

“TTF will be actively working during the campaign to encourage the adoption of policies that encourage more international visitors to travel to Australia by slashing the cost of visas, continuing to freeze the Passenger Movement Charge, scrapping the backpacker tax, investing in destination marketing and building the public transport and visitor infrastructure to make our cities more attractive destinations.”