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Reviving International Tourism Grant Program

  • Applications open: 23 May 2023
  • Grants: up to $15,000 for Stream 1 and $2,000 for Stream 2

The Reviving International Tourism Grant Programme (RITG) is intended to assist internationally ready Australian tourism businesses, such as travel wholesalers (outbound tour operator/travel wholesaler) and tourism exporters (inbound tour operators), in engaging in demand-driving activities such as expos, business development, and marketing.

Key Requirements

These guidelines offer information for the Reviving International Tourism Grant Programme (RITG). RITG is intended to help the Australian Government accomplish its goals of growing the visitor economy sustainably in accordance with the THRIVE 2030 agenda. It was announced in the Budget on October 25, 2022, as part of the Government’s electoral vow to upskill employees, support quality tourism products, and deliver infrastructure upgrades in the hospitality, tourism, and travel industry.

The Reviving International Tourism Grant Programme (RITG) would provide funding to international-ready Australian tourism enterprises, mainly wholesalers and exporters, to engage in demand-creating activities such as expos, business development, and marketing.

RITG is intended to help eligible small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) that work directly in the Australian tourist export or travel wholesale industries (inbound tour operators or outbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) rebuild and enhance their international supply chains.

The key objectives of RITG are to:

  • Attract and drive visitation from major overseas markets to Australia, notably to regional areas;
  • Aid recovery of the tourism exporters (inbound tour operators) and travel wholesalers (outbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) most heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic; and
  • Encourage the diversification of incoming international tourism markets, both from existing and emerging markets.

The intended outcomes of RITG are:

  • Tourism exporters (inbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) and travel wholesalers (outbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) are reconnected with international markets and supply chains in order to boost international tourism to and from Australia (Stream 1).
  • Tourism operators enhance their visibility and reservations from foreign consumers through digital marketing and channel uplift (Stream 2).

RITG will be delivered through two grant Streams:

  • Stream 1 – Reconnect with International Markets – provides grant funding of up to $15,000 for eligible tourism exporters (inbound tour operators) and travel wholesalers (outbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) to attend approved events (including trade missions, international expos, and conventions) with the goal of assisting eligible tourism exporters (inbound tour operators) and travel wholesalers (outbound tour operators/travel wholesalers) to attract or reconnect with international markets.
  • Stream 2 – Digital uplift – has grant money of up to $2,000 to carry out digital uplift initiatives such as website overhaul/audit, online booking capacity, system integration and automation, brochure manufacturing, social media modernisation, and accessibility upgrades.

What is eligible for funding?

Your activities and expenditure must directly contribute to the promotion of Australia abroad in order to be eligible. Activities and expenditures that have already received money from other government sources, including EMDG (Export Market Development Grant), are expressly ineligible.

Stream 1 grant activities and expenditures may include:

  • Participation or attendance at a pre-approved eligible event
  • Training activities and expenses incurred in order to improve skills directly related to attending or participating in a qualifying event
  • Costs for airfare, lodging, and transportation to attend or participate in an eligible event
  • Registration, exhibition, and/or entry fees for attending or participating in an eligible event
  • Costs related to the creation of marketing and promotional materials for use at an eligible event
  • Any other eligible activities and expenditure that the Austrade Programme Delegate approves.

Stream 2 grant activities and expenditure may include:

  • Website design, refresh, audit, or optimisation activities and expenditures;
  • Activities and expenditures involved with increasing visibility in search engines to overseas consumers;
  • The costs of a digital refresh action plan;
  • Costs of upgrading a website or social media platform aimed towards international consumers;
  • Costs connected with accessibility improvements (including efforts that increase information availability for all users, regardless of physical restrictions, handicap, or age);
  • Costs related with internal and external system integration and automation;
  • Introduction (or growth) of online booking, e-invoicing, and/or payment options;
  • Updating of social media channels;
  • Any other digital uplift initiatives and expenditure that the Austrade Programme Delegate approves.

What companies are eligible for funding?

Stream 1 – Reconnect with international markets

Applicants must be a current financial member of ATEC or CATO prior to April 2023:

  • Participated in Tourism Australia’s Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) as a seller between 2017 and 2019, or in 2022; or
  • Participated in Tourism Australia Marketplace events (UK, SEA, India, USA, Japan) as a seller between 2017 and 2019, or in 2022;
  • Attended ATEC’s Meeting Place as a buyer between 2017 and 2019, or in 2022;
  • Participated as a buyer in an ATEC regional B2B trade event between 2017 and 2019;
  • Attended and can provide proof of attendance at any of the following events between 2017 and 2019 or 2022:
    • International Tourism Bourse (ITB Berlin, Asia, China) buyer or seller
    • World Travel Market (WTM London, Asia, India, China)
    • International Luxury Travel Mart (ILTM, Singapore & Cannes)
    • PURE (Morocco)
    • Africa’s Travel Indaba (Africa)
    • or any other Austrade-approved and agreed-upon event by ATEC or CATO. Prior to application, this would need to be approved.

In addition, the applicant must:

  • Be a tourism exporter (inbound tour operator) or travel wholesaler (outbound tour operator/travel wholesaler) from Australia.
  • Have less than $20 million in total turnover (as defined in the Glossary) in the year preceding the application year.
  • Only submit one grant application per ABN.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.