The costs and benefits of tourism activity do not fall evenly. This is especially true where services and facilities are provided locally but contributions from the users flow elsewhere, including to central government. There is a role for Government to use its levers, including taxes and levies, funding streams, and legislative and regulatory settings, to adjust this imbalance. This intervention must always be used cautiously to achieve clearly stated outcomes and avoid unintended consequences.

Sustainable Tourism Funding
TIA seeks to lead a national discussion on developing a sustainable funding model for the tourism industry, including to fund essential functions by industry and local and central government. TIA has successfully advocated for a third phase of the Tourism ITP to be focused on investigating and establishing this sustainable tourism funding model. As part of this, the level of the International Visitor Level will remain at its current until the wider funding needs of the industry are comprehensively assessed.