Inbound tourists stay longer in Australia and spend more
International visitors to Australia are staying longer and spending more, which was positive news for the tourism industry, the Australian Tourism Export Council said yesterday.
ATEC Managing Director Matthew Hingerty, was commenting on today’s release of Tourism Research Australia’s latest International Visitor Survey figures, which revealed a 12% increase in visitor nights and expenditure for the year ended September 2006.
He said, “International visitors stayed 149.4 million nights in Australia and spent an average $2665 each while in the country in the year to September 30 2006 – up 12% on the previous year”.
“Overall, international visitors contributed $18.9 billion to our economy, making tourism one of Australia’s most important exports.”
Mr Hingerty said the figures were good news, particularly in light of actual visitor numbers, which remained static at just over five million for the year – about the same as for the corresponding period in 2005, adding, “It is important to not just look at actual numbers as increases in volume without a corresponding increase in profits is not a sustainable outcome for the industry”.
“In the past Australia made the mistake of marketing itself as a budget destination, but in more recent years the focus has shifted to concentrating on those attributes that make us unique and in offering our visitors a value for money experience.”
Mr Hingerty said if Australia was to continue to attract high-spending, long-staying visitors, it was important for government and industry to invest more in developing new product and experiences, particularly in regional areas.
“With the current downturn in domestic tourism and with 78% of international visitor expenditure still going into the coffers of major cities, this is especially the case”.
“Today’s travellers are looking for more than just a ‘drop, shop and flop’ type of holiday – they want to get out and meet the locals, take part in the culture and have experiences that help them grow as a person.”
“It is therefore important that we encourage visitors to travel more widely and to give them a reason to come back.”
Mr Hingerty said it was also important to see the figures in a worldwide context as more people were travelling globally than ever before and competition for the international tourist’s dollar was becoming increasingly cutthroat.
“Destinations such as China and south east Asia are recording double digit visitor growth and investing massive amounts of money into developing their tourism industries,” he added.
“Australia’s growth by comparison has remained relatively static and it is important for our industry and governments to work closely together to ensure we do not lose further market share to cheaper, closer destinations.”
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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