Highlighting to the world that Australia is open for business

The Morrison Government is backing Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event, with Tourism Australia today announcing $6.5 million in initiatives to boost participation at the 2020 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).

Tourism Australia’s annual ATE event is Australia’s largest tourism trade event, connecting tourism operators from across Australia with tourism wholesalers and retailers from around the world.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the series of initiatives formed part of the Morrison Government’s $76 million tourism recovery package to help get the tourism industry back on its feet.

"We know our industry and tourism towns are doing it tough from the double effects of the bushfires and now the coronavirus," Minister Birmingham said.

"This event will provide an important platform for our tourism operators to demonstrate to international travel buyers that we are very much open for business, that we want people to visit and enjoy the incredible experiences that are still on offer.

"ATE is more important than ever, as we show the world that Australia is open for business as well as being a safe destination that still offers exceptional experiences.

"We’re providing extra support to get tourism operators from fire-affected regions to ATE so they can showcase their incredible tourism offerings to help get tourists back into these regions and supporting recovery efforts.

"There will also be a major focus on getting international travel buyers spreading across both fire-affected regions and also the many other regions who are also doing it tough, so they can see for themselves that there’s still nothing like Australia for an amazing holiday or event.

The $6.5 million ATE funding package includes:

• Waiving the bulk of the attendance fees for Australian tourism operators, including operators from fire affected destinations to give them important exposure to both domestic and international travel buyers
• Providing additional support for familiarisation visits for buyers to get out into affected regions to help spread the message overseas that Australia is open for business
• Activating spaces within the ATE event to educate and inform all attendees on how Australia is still open for business.

The 2020 edition of ATE, will be held in Melbourne from 10 to 14 May this year. ATE delivers between $5.5 - $8.5 billion in international sales to Australia’s tourism industry each year, through buyers from more than 30 countries.

Further information about ATE20 can be found at: https://events.tourism.australia.com/QuickEventWebsitePortal/ate20/website