Australian Regional Tourism

In partnership with State and Territory tourism organisations, ART aims to be a unified industry voice for regional tourism advocacy, enabling a collaborative approach to industry development and shared challenges.

In 2025, regional Australia generated $74.6 billion in annual visitor spend, accounting for 39% of the total, while capital cities and the Gold Coast contributed $117.7 billion (61%).

Despite hosting 58% of domestic overnight trips, regional areas attracted only 24% of international visitor stopovers, compared to 76% in capital cities.

There are approximately 108,000 tourism-related businesses in regional Australia, and tourism supports around 6.7% of all jobs, which is more than double the share in capital cities (Tourism Research Australia).

Tourism is vital to many regional communities around Australia, and it is important that we continue to advocate for the success of the industry.

CATCH-UP ON THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS

BLOG

From the CEO’s desk: Federal Budget 2026-27

Following last night’s release of the Federal Budget, regional tourism continues to face a challenging operating environment, with many destinations navigating compounding pressures including high…

Bridging the Gap: Tourism, Agriculture and Community

In this episode of the Tourism Hub Podcast, host Despina Karatzias is on location at the 2025 ART Conference, one of Australia’s most important gatherings…

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Planning for the Future in Chaotic Time with Carolyn Childs

WEBINAR

Planning for the Future in Chaotic Time with Carolyn Childs

About 12 years ago, when I wrote the situational analysis for our Marketing Plan Blueprint, I said to my then business partner Bronwyn White that…

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