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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lucy Bladen

Boost to tourism in ACT budget

Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Picture by Karleen Minney

The ACT government is hoping to further boost its tourism industry and attract more major events, with more than $5 million allocated to tourism in the upcoming budget.

It is part of the government's attempt to grow the territory's visitor economy to $4 billion annually by 2030.

There will be $3 million given to the government's major event fund, which is a program to support and invest in large events in the nation's capital.

The fund started in 2011 and nearly $12 million has been spent on events. The government has said during that time it had delivered around $1 billion in economic return for the ACT and the events attracted more than 5.2 million attendees.

The government will also focus on attracting more direct domestic and international flights to Canberra.

International flights are set to return to the capital next month, with flights between Canberra and Nadi, in Fiji.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who is also the Tourism Minister, said the budget would invest in tourist invests and initiatives that have demonstrated success.

"These initiatives will support the growth of the visitor economy and deliver a calendar of events that will attract domestic and international visitors to the ACT," he said.

"They will also generate positive economic activity and a net benefit to the ACT through attracting more tourists, sector wide job creation and new investment in tourism products and events."

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