Tourism in QLD in second place to…………coal
QLD Premier Peter Beattie speaking at ATE 2007 this week said that tourism is big business for Queensland and the State’s biggest earner next to coal.
He also said that the State continues to be a favourite with Japanese visitors, but that the Kiwis were right behind them with 19% of international visitors in the past three years coming from New Zealand.
He also announced four new strategic plans designed to boost expenditure from new and existing Asian markets, with long term plans for Japan, China, India and Korea guiding the promotion of Queensland in these regions.
He said while the established Japanese market was “entering a time of change” it continued to deliver strong returns for Queensland, with Japanese tourists making up 18% of total international visitors in the three year period ending December 2006, right behind New Zealand.
Figures released by Tourism Queensland show that Japanese visitor numbers had only increased by 1% in the last three years, but the average time they spent in the Queensland had increased by 6% and they spent a total of $432 million, an average of $1670 per person.
The Tourism Queensland report said that Queensland hosted 66% of the total Japanese visitors to Australia in the year ended December 2006 and the number of New Zealand visitors increased by 8% in the three years to December 2006, while their average time spent in Queensland increased by 10% and 91% had been to Queensland before.
Tourism contributes $8.4 billion to the Queensland economy each year, and accounts for 5.8% of the state’s gross state product with international travel market contributing around $3.2 billion.
During 2006 14,041,400 rooms occupied were in Queensland accommodation, an increase of 2.7%.
With more than 2,000 international and domestic delegates coming toe Queensland for ATE 2007,the immediate economic benefit is estiamted to be around $10 million and Premier Beattie said the potential future economic benefit was immeasurable, labelling the event a “major win” and Tourism Minister Margaret Keech adding, “We are working with industry during the event to ensure Queensland receives a major share of Australia’s international tourism expenditure”.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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