National Bushfire Recovery Funding for ATE20

On 7 February, Australia’s Tourism Minister, Simon Birmingham, announced a series of initiatives as part of the 2020 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE20) that will provide direct support to Australian tourism operators in the wake of the bushfire and coronavirus crises.

The special edition of the annual trade show will have a strong recovery focus, with a raft of changes being implemented to the event’s format and delivery, including:

• Waiving the bulk of the attendance fees for all seller companies to acknowledge the recent downturn in tourism and put money directly back into their businesses;
• Providing additional support for familiarisation visits for buyers to get out into affected regions to help spread the message overseas that Australia is open for business;
• Providing the opportunity for operators from fire affected destinations to attend ATE20 to give them important exposure to both domestic and international travel buyers;
• Activating spaces within the ATE event to educate and inform all attendees on how Australia is still open for business.

The initiatives are being supported by $6.5 million in additional funding provided to Tourism Australia as part of the Australian Government’s National Bushfire Recovery Fund.