AN additional $3.1 million of the ACT budget will be spent on attracting tourists to Canberra after the pandemic slashed visitor expenditure by more than a billion dollars.

Pre-pandemic, expenditure from overnight visitation peaked at an all-time high of $2.5 billion but was almost halved ($1.38 billion) for the year ending in September 2021.

The 2022-23 budget will in response fund an extra $1 million over four years to support Floriade and the Enlighten Festival, two of Canberra’s most popular events.

A further $1 million will be spent to support tourism businesses and jobs through the Tourism Cooperative Marketing Fund and Tourism Product Development Fund grant programs. The fund are designed to drive marketing co-investment and help businesses roll out new product offerings.

The budget will also commit an additional $600,000 for targeted domestic and international destination marketing with industry partners in 2022‑23.

A further $500,000 will be invested in the Major Event Fund in 2022-23 to support high quality events and exhibitions.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the funding will mean “even better festivals and events for locals and tourists.”

“As people begin to travel again, maintaining a strong destination marketing presence will be vital to drive drive consumer awareness and visitor numbers to Canberra as the government plans to grow the local labour market to 250,000 jobs by 2025,” he said.