The Lawler Government has pledged an extra $6 million in next month’s Territory Budget to help the struggling tourism sector rebound, while overseas visitors remain down more than 50 per cent on pre-COVID figures, including $3 million to further partner with airlines to woo international tourists.

The $6 million tourism boost includes $3 million to encourage more international visitors to the Territory and $3 million towards more “cooperative marketing” with airlines that have brought more routes and more passenger capacity to the NT through the Territory Aviation Attraction Scheme, the government said.

The $6 million is new money, Chief Minister Eva Lawler said, part of $68 million in next month’s budget for tourism.

The $3 million for international marketing in 2024-25 aims to maximise opportunities from Tourism Australia’s global campaigns, including the “Come and Say G’Day” international awareness campaign.

“Tourism is a key industry that gets the Territory working – and that’s why we’re backing it with this $68 million investment,” Ms Lawler said.

“We’ve worked hard with airlines, the tourism industry and airports to secure new direct flights to the Territory with Airnorth, Virgin Australia and Bonza all committing to new or extra services.”

She said the NT Aviation Attraction Scheme has been instrumental in securing new routes and increasing capacity to Alice Springs, Ayers Rock and Darwin airports, with three airlines and six new routes on offer to travellers since the scheme launched in July 2023.

The Territory Labor and Australian Governments are also delivering an already announced $6 million program to deliver “strategic Indigenous tourism projects to stimulate and strengthen” Aboriginal Territorians’ participation in Australia’s tourism industry.

Aboriginal tourism contributes $383 million to the local economy each year, Ms Lawler said, adding she wants it to increase through strategic programs that grow and diversify local Aboriginal tourism products and offerings.

“We’ll always talk about the Territory because we know that creates work opportunities for Territorians and supports local businesses,” she said.

Ms Lawler said the tourism industry contributes around $1.5 billion to the economy and continues to support thousands of workers.

Tourism Minister Joel Bowden said the “latest tourism figures are showing an upward trend” but did not provide the data.

The government has been rolling out pre-Budget announcements on an almost daily basis over the last couple of weeks, including pledging to spend an extra $570 million to fix the problems in the NT Police force over the next five years.

The 2024-25 Budget will be released on May 14.