Redirect from regions: Call for more tourism city spend as major conference rolls into town
The city’s peak body for economic development is calling for more tourism dollars to be spent in Adelaide as a national conference sees thousands converge from 32 countries around the world.
As thousands of tourism operators and buyers descend on Adelaide this week for the 2026 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE26), the city’s peak economic development agency is calling for more tourism dollars to be focused on the city.
The Adelaide Convention Centre was buzzing this weekend, with more than 2700 people expected to attend the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE26) – Australia’s largest tourism trade show.
Put on in partnership with the South Australian Tourism Commission, ATE26 saw 730 buyers and travel agents come from 32 countries, as well as 1400 industry representatives from 674 tourism organisations.
The last time the ATE was held in Adelaide was in 2018, with Brisbane hosting last year – buyers and agents scouting to invest in the nation’s tourism offerings.
Gemma Nelson, who is the advisor for tourism industry development at the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA), is calling for more of South Australia’s international and domestic expenditure to be spent in the city.
AEDA is taking part in the conference, which runs until May 14, with Nelson saying the body was holding more than 100 back-to-back, 15-minute-long meetings over the five days.
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Nelson said that “redirecting just one per cent of the state’s annual tourism spend to the city would add $110 million to Adelaide’s economy”, adding that she did not think it would negatively impact the regions.
“With more than 24 million visitors coming to South Australia each year and just half of them staying overnight in the city, those numbers would equate to a massive injection into Adelaide’s tourism spending landscape,” she said.
“The more people that are coming into Adelaide, and especially those who are looking to stay longer than just one night, will mean that it’s gone from a second-tier choice to a first-tier choice city that visitors want to spend longer in and go and explore the regions even more.”
SA Tourism Commission figures from the 2024 to 2025 annual report showed the value of the sector to SA was $9.9 billion.
It comes at a difficult time for South Australian tourism operators, with one previously telling InDaily that the combined impact of the harmful algal bloom and the fuel crisis – caused by conflict in the Middle East – had hit his businesses hard.
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“We’ve had a number of cancellations on our Ocean Road Tours and also our Kangaroo Island Tours, which are high-priced, multi-day tours, which hurts, obviously, quite dramatically,” said long-term tourism operator Dallas Coull.
“The huge increase in fuel has hit us pretty hard, so from a tour operator perspective, it’s a little bit of a double whammy, really.
“You’re in tourism because you’re passionate about it … It seems to be two steps forward, one step back at the moment, which does take its toll on a family business.”
Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said that ATE26 was expected to contribute a $13.6 million economic boost to the South Australian economy.
“Our tourism industry contributes significantly to Australia’s economy, supporting more than 700,000 jobs, attracting visitors to regional communities and sustaining some 300,000 businesses across the country,” he said.
South Australian Tourism Minister Emily Bourke said the state had welcomed several new major hotel chains since it last hosted the conference.
This included the Adelaide Marriott Hotel in the former General Post Office on King William Street and the Monarto Safari Resort.
Tourism Australia managing director Robin Mack said this year’s event would see 74 new products and 131 new buyer organisations taking part for the first time, which he said highlighted strong demand in the sector.
“We acknowledge the impact of global shocks on the sector at this time, which makes the role of Tourism Australia more important than ever – to shape international demand, lift sustainable yield and support dispersal, directing tourism revenues into Australia and across its regions,” he said.
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