The tourism and transport industries in Australia are highly interdependent, with the inbound tourism sector reliant on 99 per cent of visitors arriving by air. The remaining one per cent arrives on cruise ships. Domestic travel within Australia depends on rail, road and aviation networks. Reliable and regular transport services are required to deliver tourists to destinations scattered far and wide across Australia, particularly to regional areas.
Aviation, as a major enabler of tourism, has a particularly important role to play in supporting the government's vision for growth of the tourism sector in Australia. The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (the Department) works closely with other departments including:
To ensure that tourism interests are considered in the development and implementation of policies and programs impacting on tourism. Areas of interest to the Department include:
- air services liberalisation
- aviation security
- climate change
- transport infrastructure (including airports)
- passenger processing at Australia's international airports.
Tourism Access Working Group
Given Australia’s geographic position and its size, efficient transport infrastructure and links are essential to ensure Australia’s competitiveness as a visitor destination. A comprehensive and integrated approach that takes into account the needs of the tourism industry is therefore vital in the consideration of transport access and infrastructure planning.
The Tourism Access Working Group has been established to report on key aviation issues and related transport access impediments for the tourism industry. Its membership will be based on that of the National Tourism and Aviation Advisory Committee, and will include state and territory governments, airlines, airports and peak tourism and aviation bodies.
The Tourism Access Working Group is one of nine working groups resulting from the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.