About Australia's international engagement on tourism
How is RET involved?
More information
About Australia's international engagement on tourism
Tourism is not only an important trade and economic driver—it is also a positive force in developing and deepening Australia's relations with other nations.
International collaboration provides significant opportunities for both public and private sectors—in particular, areas of research and analysis, marketing and promotions, skills and training development, destination management, safety and security and market access.
How is RET involved?
The Tourism Division of the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) works towards enhancing international government-to-government relationships through participation in multilateral tourism fora and key bilateral agreements.
The purpose of RET’s participation in multilateral fora is to engage with key partners, maintain an in-depth understanding of global tourism issues and gain an insight into what Australia’s competitors are doing to make their tourism offering the consumer’s product of choice.
Strong growth from Asia is expected to be particularly important to the performance of the inbound tourism sector in the short and longer term. By 2020, Asia is forecast to contribute more than half of the projected growth in Australia’s international visitation and the region (especially its key markets) will be a priority to drive tourism growth as Australia enters the “Asian Century”.
A strong bilateral link to China is at the forefront of Tourism 2020, and the Department works in a range of ways to enhance the bilateral tourism relationship between China and Australia through the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Tourism Cooperation and the China Strategic Tourism Investment Grant.
Australia has an active involvement in several multilateral tourism fora, with a primary focus on:
Australia’s engagement with these fora is aligned closely with the six key strategic areas of Tourism 2020. Tourism 2020 provides industry with the tools to take advantage of the opportunities that Asia presents, including targeted strategies and campaigns to convert new business in growing markets, particularly China and India.
More information
For more information about Australia's economic international engagements, contact the Tourism Division via email at tourism@ret.gov.au.
For information about Australia's engagement with China, see Engagement with China.