Tourism in Queensland is a $23 billion a year industry that sustains 174,000 Queensland jobs across 60,000 businesses. There are few sectors of the community that do not benefit from tourism, and nature-based tourism is a significant growth sector that represents a high return on State investment.

The Queensland Tourism and Conservation Alliance provided a submission to the 2023-23 Queensland State Budget, including the following recommendations:

• Increase investment in the management of existing national parks and other protected areas with an additional $50 million per year to better protect the values they were created for, including increasing the number of First Nations rangers.
• Accelerate the expansion of the protected area estate to add a minimum of 2 million hectares per year, with a commensurate increase in ongoing funding for park management and visitor experience development.
• Add a further $100 million to the existing $262.5 million allocated to the expansion of Queensland’s national parks, to help fast-track the acquisition program over the forward estimates period.
• Increase funding for the Private Protected Areas Program to an annual $25 million across engagement, grant funding, and program expansion.
• Invest $5 million per year toward developing First Nations-led ecotourism products, programs and services in protected areas.