Tourism Plan

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:26): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update the council on the state's new tourism plan?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:26): Thank you, Dennis.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The opposition is very excitable. I thank the honourable member for his question. I know members opposite love the tourism industry and they are very excited today. The South Australian tourism industry is booming and employing more people than ever before. Since the launch of the previous South Australian tourism plan 2020 in 2014, the visitor economy has grown from $5.1 billion to $7.2 billion. In fact, it is the first time in this state's history that we have a '7' at the front of the figure—$7 billion.

The total number of people employed in the sector has risen to an all-time high of 38,900, a 4 per cent increase or an additional 1,616 jobs on the previous year. This growth justifies the government's additional funding of $21.5 million to the events bid fund and the allocation of a further $43 million to the SATC over four years to market our state on the world stage. We are well on the way to reach our 2020 target of $8 billion, as set out in the original tourism sector plan, but we need to be forward thinking, unlike members opposite who are always backward looking, to ensure the long-term growth and sustainability of this critical industry.

So in September last year the SATC commenced development of the next tourism plan. After extensive industry consultation the Premier and I were privileged to launch the South Australian Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030 on 6 August. It is an industry-led plan, endorsed by the industry and aims to grow the state's visitor economy to $12.8 billion by 2030, generating an additional 16,000 jobs. That will take the sector to over 50,000 jobs.

The six strategic priorities of focus are: marketing, experience and supply development, collaboration, industry capability, leisure and business events, and promoting the value of tourism.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Obviously, members opposite do not realise the value of tourism. We will also work hard to improve our capability by investing in public infrastructure, labour and skills, as well as streamlining regulation to simplify the private investment process and develop more unique tourism experiences across South Australia.

We travelled some 5,000 kilometres across Adelaide and regional South Australia to develop this plan, and I thank the many hundreds of people who took part in the consultation to develop what is a plan by the South Australian tourism industry for the industry. Members opposite should remember that 43 per cent of the visitor economy spend is in regional South Australia, so in 2030 we will have a $12 billion economy—$12 billion by 2030, which will be $430 million on average every month spent in regional South Australia and $570 million every month spent in Adelaide.

We are focusing our efforts and resources on these priorities. We will continue to build on the last few years of record growth in expenditure and employment to deliver more wealth and more jobs for South Australians.