7.3 billion reasons to celebrate SA's tourism industry

As the year winds down, today we celebrate a wonderful milestone for the recovery of South Australia’s tourism industry.

New data from Tourism Research Australia shows the state’s visitor economy is just $800 million shy of its once record-high $8.1 billion – a value we reached at the end of 2019, almost one year ahead of target.

It takes total visitor expenditure to $7.3 billion, down just 10 per cent on its pre-pandemic value – showing recovery has made incredible inroads.

This is an enormous achievement for our industry and puts us in incredibly good stead for the year ahead, and our broader target of $12.8 billion by 2030.

Of course, I recognise that operators in the Murray River regions are doing it very tough.

This week, the State Government temporarily banned recreational boating and water activities on the Murray River to protect infrastructure and the safety of river users and property owners.

Further clarification has been provided from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) – confirming that tour operators can still undertake some activities. This includes:

• motorised tour boat operations – such as where a registered tour company takes passengers to look at the river
• guided kayak tours – general public accompanied by a registered qualified/experienced guide can be permitted under certain circumstances such as careful selection of location of the tour (away from the main flow – such as anabranches and floodplains).

For details, full FAQs and who to contact if you have questions, go to DIT’s Marine Safety website at marinesafety.sa.gov.au.

The SATC is continuing to support the industry where we can, and is preparing to roll-out dedicated marketing for the Murray River regions as soon as the time is right.

For more information on the Murray River flows, see the State Government’s dedicated website at sa.gov.au/floods.

Stephanie Rozokos
Chief Executive

Read the full Industry Update - 22 December 2022