The return of Qatar is a big opportunity. Photo: Canberra Airport.
The ACT Government needs to spend more on tourism promotion to keep up with big-spending competitors that were blowing the national capital out of the water, according to Canberra Airport.
Speaking at a Canberra Region Tourism Advisory Forum on Thursday, Head of Aviation Michael Thompson said that aviation post-pandemic was essentially a good news story, and the future looked bright.
He said flight connections to and from Canberra had increased, and new ones were on the horizon, but domestic and international visitors were not hearing and seeing enough of the national capital’s story as they should.
“We’ve got so many fantastic things in our region, so many great experiences, so many opportunities,” he said.
“One of the big challenges we see is awareness.”
Mr Thompson said destinations such as the Northern Territory and Tasmania were significantly outspending the ACT on promotion to target markets.
“We’re a rounding error to the budgets of the bigger states, and if people don’t know about what we have in this region, people are less likely to come here,” he said.
This year’s ACT Budget allocated $15 million to the tourism sector, including the Aviation Stimulus Fund to enhance flight access to the capital, the Major Events Fund, Brand Canberra, the National Capital Educational Tourism Project, and in-market tourism representation.
In its 2025-26 Budget, Tasmania allocated $57 million for international marketing through Tourism Tasmania, in addition to $62 million for regional events. The budget also committed $38 million over four years for overall tourism marketing funding.
Mr Thompson said the Airport worked extremely closely with Visit Canberra, and it did a wonderful job, but the tourism sector needed more input to get the message out about what the ACT had to offer, Mr Thompson said.
“When you’re talking to your local representatives, make sure that they’re aware that we really need to drive our tourism sector,” he said.
“And we can help influence that conversation.”
Mr Thompson said the Airport was doing its bit to boost tourism in the region, announcing new domestic connections, such as Avalon in Victoria, bringing Qatar Airways back next month, and Singapore Airlines’ return being a matter of when, not if.
He said Fiji Airways’ link to Nadi offered on-flights to the US and was bringing American visitors direct to Canberra.
Fiji Airways has recently adjusted its schedule to operate on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to enhance connectivity to the rest of its network.
“Now you can go straight through to the US, for Dallas, LA, and Vancouver, and only three hours on the ground in Nadi,” Mr Thompson said.
“It’s far quicker than actually going via Sydney or Melbourne, and we are seeing it bring more US travellers straight into Canberra, which is great for all of us.”
Mr Thompson said the numbers were holding up, but the Airport would like to see more.
He said the resumption of Qatar’s seven-day service would also be an excellent opportunity to attract many more European visitors to Canberra.
“It’ll provide a wonderful link to all of Europe, and return airfares are starting at about $1800, so very, very affordable,” Mr Thompson said.
Airport officials met with Singapore Airlines in Singapore a couple of weeks ago, and the airline confirmed it wanted to return to Canberra. However, there were plane shortages, and the airline needed to be convinced of the demand.
“It’ll have to go to four days a week, so we need to fill some reasonably large planes [A350 900 with about 250 seats],” Mr Thompson said.
“We need to convince them that our population is such that it can sustain that, but we also need to convince them that Canberra is the destination where people will want to come.
“Singapore Airlines also had wonderful links into India, and we know that India is growing and growing rapidly into our economy.”
Mr Thompson said the other market that looked hopeful was China, with Chinese tourists starting to come back to Australia.
“They’re no longer just looking to go to the rock, the reef and Sydney, they’re starting to explore different places and that provides a great opportunity for us,” he said.
The Airport also has its international sights set on Auckland and Bali, and domestically, a second service to Perth, Cairns, the Sunshine Coast and Launceston.
Mr Thompson said industry challenges remained, such as a shortage of planes, pilots, cabin and ground crew, and high domestic fares, but the Airport now offered 66 per cent more destinations than it did in 2018.
Changing travel patterns were also positive.
“What we have seen coming out of COVID has been a really increased focus on leisure,” Mr Thompson said.
“We’re so much more of a leisure port than we would have been previously, which is good for all of us. A lot of families are coming through.”
