Still Now Victoria’s Tourism Struggles To Recover Post-pandemic Amid Funding Cuts: Know What’s The Reason Behind?

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Victoria of Australia, nan country’s 2nd largest economy, is slow recovering from nan COVID-19 pandemic particularly successful its tourism domain. International visitant numbers to Victoria are still good down connected pre-pandemic figures, moreover pinch nan return of world tourism. Recent figures from nan Australian Bureau of Statistics show world tourism to Victoria still languishes and we are nan worst-performing authorities successful Australia.

The consequence to this downturn of nan Allan Labor Government has been a matter of concern. The authorities has rolled retired its ain measures, including nan $170 cardinal Regional Tourism and Events Fund, but critics opportunity small of constituent is being done to meet nan challenges. Industry leaders accent nan request for a broad scheme to kick-start nan assemblage and reconstruct Victoria’s position arsenic a starring tourer destination.

WHAT IT MEANS The queen of British tourism is retired of cash

One of nan biggest challenges for tourism successful Victoria is nan cuts to destination trading budgets. The state’s tourism and events agency Visit Victoria has had its backing severely slashed pinch its trading fund trim from $32.5 cardinal to $15.5 cardinal complete 3 years. As a consequence of this cut, invaluable world events were cancelled for illustration Down Under Summit Americas, wherever we were showcasing nan offering of Victoria to nan world. Industry leaders person warned that nan cuts are making it difficult for nan authorities to efficaciously marketplace itself to nan remainder of nan world, leaving nan authorities unfastened to competitors specified arsenic New South Wales and Queensland erstwhile it comes to attracting world tourists.

Regional Tourism: One Place’s Famine, Another’s Feast

Though Melbourne is starting to retrieve arsenic a tourism destination, location Victoria has a tougher roadworthy ahead. Places arsenic divers arsenic Geelong, nan Bellarine Peninsula, Phillip Island and nan Yarra Valley person recorded maturation successful visitant numbers and expenditure. But they are mini erstwhile weighed against nan losses knowledgeable during nan pandemic. Regional tourism operators fearfulness they would falter successful their betterment without due promotion and support, and could miss marketplace stock to different states.

The discrepancy successful betterment betwixt Melbourne and location Victoria underscores nan request for circumstantial support packages for those section operators surviving extracurricular nan city. Of course, Melbourne is loved crossed nan world for being a diverse, multicultural city—however, successful location Victoria, this diverseness tin beryllium recovered successful its assortment of earthy scenery, wineries, creation and wildlife. But, arsenic they are improbable to beryllium nan attraction of slick trading campaigns and are improbable to person immense amounts of finance successful infrastructure, these regions will hardly beryllium pulling successful world visitors successful nan numbers that ‘˜city’ destinations achieve.

In a batch of respects, nan tourism successful location Victoria relies very heavy connected world visitors coming to our shores.” Entry of important trading and infrastructure costs has been comparatively low, particularly aft nan pandemic, which has constricted nan exploitation of nan imaginable of these places. Although location is imaginable for location tourism to rebound, enduring obstacles whitethorn derail their momentum successful catching up to Melbourne’s recovery.

Economic Implications and Future Projections

A stubborn driver of employment, and of economical activity, remains tourism. In 2023, trip-related spending neared a grounds level of $39.3 billion, wherever world visitors contributions to this fig stood astatine $7.8 billion. But nan state’s tourism manufacture hasn’t afloat rebounded, and nan cuts successful backing could stymie immoderate further growth. It estimates nan visitant system could grow by an other $16 cardinal to $53 cardinal by 2028 pinch further investment.

Yet it will return a associated effort betwixt authorities and nan manufacture to amended marketing, infrastructure and nan touristic acquisition to scope these goals. Victoria remains 1 of nan world’s awesome recreation destinations, incorporating until precocious nan very champion of Australia’s social, earthy and humanities attributes, nevertheless it cannot spend to go complacent if it expects to beryllium competitory locally and internationally successful an system that is quickly realising that location are alternatives to Victoria.

Tourism, immoderate of it international, has agelong been captious to nan state’s wide economical wellness — it supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and pumps billions of dollars into nan authorities each year. But erstwhile world recreation patterns are interrupted, arsenic has happened during nan pandemic, nan effects are much widespread.

Now, to recapture mislaid ground, Victoria must double down connected its strengths and rebuild its estimation arsenic a destination wherever group are drawn to activity and live. Compared to different forms of tourism location are peculiarly rewarding possibilities for location tourism. But without strategical investment, Victoria stands to suffer crushed to its competitors, some interstate (Queensland, which has turned its earthy beauty and tourist-friendly offerings to decisive advantage) and overseas (the arsenic once-red-hot New Zealand market).

A number of recommendations made to flooded Victoria’s tourism impediments include:

Boost Marketing Investment: Revitalizing and boosting nan trading fund of Visit Victoria to beforehand nan state’s tourism experiences successful some home and world markets. The authorities must guarantee that it’s not an invisible portion of nan world stage, and that nan unsocial experiences it offers are front-and-center for imaginable tourists.

Regional Tourism Support: Introduce focused measures to support location tourism operators, including targeted finance successful infrastructure successful location areas and a promotion strategy that promotes nan strengths of location Victoria. Showcasing nan unsocial attractions of location Victoria, specified arsenic vineyards successful nan Yarra Valley aliases wildlife experiences connected Phillip Island, whitethorn pull world visitors who are looking for caller and authentic recreation experiences.

Enrich Visitor Experiences: Develop and put successful bonzer and precocious value visitant experiences that group Victoria isolated from different destinations. The State needs to not only show disconnected its celebrated attractions, but besides create communicative immersive experiences that resonate pinch nan desires of nan caller breed of 21st period traveler.

Develop manufacture business Foster practice among government, manufacture and organization to instrumentality a coordinated attack to tourism development. Tourism betterment plans request to beryllium integrated, coordinated and effective and will trust connected collaboration among manufacture leaders and operators arsenic good arsenic section government.

Monitor and Adjust Strategies: Continuously show nan impacts of tourism strategies and set successful accord pinch shifts successful marketplace conditions aliases visitant desires. Such elasticity and versatility will beryllium cardinal arsenic world recreation trends alteration and challenges specified arsenic nan continued impacts of nan pandemic, persist.

Conclusion

Victorias tourism manufacture is astatine a crossroads. Although we are making progress, nan measurement guardant calls for intelligent finance and a joined-up consequence to nan challenges of backing cuts and world-wide competition. With nan correct approach, Victoria tin recapture its rightful marketplace stock of tourer visitors, and proceed to beryllium a beardown competitor connected nan world stage. With its oculus connected marketing, location improvements, and teamwork, nan authorities has its chance to bounce backmost and get going. But without urgent involution nan region betwixt Victoria and different states could turn – and so, too, could its tourism manufacture slump, a caboose alternatively than an motor of maturation for nan nationalist tourism sector.

To sum up then, Victoria’s tourism manufacture has galore strings to its bow, but nan measurement backmost to betterment will return effort and time. The authorities tin erstwhile again beryllium a precocious floor plan destination for internationals attracting visiting connected some Melbourne’s large metropolis attraction and location Victoria’s divers lifestyle. Now is nan clip to enactment because nan longer we hold to recover, nan much difficult it will beryllium to reconstruct nan crushed we person mislaid and to support tourism arsenic a cardinal driver of nan Victorian economy.

References:
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Visit Victoria, Victoria Tourism Industry Council, Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry, and Regions, Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria