The Australian Tourism Industry Council has welcomed the $2 million, two-year funding extension for the Quality Tourism Framework (QTF), announced in this week’s Federal Budget.
The Quality Tourism Framework supports small and regional tourism businesses to develop, improve and market sustainable tourism products and experiences.
ATIC CEO Erin McLeod said the funding would support the ongoing delivery of the QTF program, with more than 7000 businesses having already achieved Sustainable Tourism Accreditation, Accessible Tourism and Tourism Emissions Reduction programs and other national tourism quality standards.
Ms McLeod said the suite of programs provides a pathway for every business across Australia to achieve sustainable tourism accreditation, assess their accessibility and emissions and provide accurate information to guests.
The Australian Government had previously invested $8 million in the Quality Tourism Framework over the last four years through Austrade.
“The funding extension will support at least an additional 1,000 tourism businesses to reach national standards in sustainability, accessibility and emissions reduction and to provide e-learning courses to tourism businesses throughout metro and regional Australia,” Ms McLeod said.
Ms McLeod said the Sustainable Tourism Accreditation was the tourism industry’s largest and longest-running sustainability program, recognising businesses that demonstrate best practice across environmental, cultural, social and commercial operations.
“We encourage tourism businesses across the country to participate in the Sustainable Tourism Accreditation, Accessible Tourism and Tourism Emissions Reductions programs to help strengthen Australia’s reputation as a high quality, sustainable and welcoming destination for all visitors,” Ms McLeod said.
