Tourism left on the dock as recovery sets sail
SYDNEY – Australian tourism businesses have nominated the rising Australian dollar as a key concern, as the industry continues to struggle in the wake of the global financial crisis and the swine flu outbreak, according to new research by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
The latest TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey has found while industry sentiment is improving, expectations are still relatively low, especially for inbound visitor numbers.
TTF Managing Director Chris Brown said the rising dollar is a double-edged sword.
“On the one hand, it’s great news for the economy generally, because it means Australia is much better placed than other developed nations,” Brown said, “but, on the other, it makes our exports more expensive – and that includes tourism.
“A strong dollar is a real double whammy for Australia’s tourism industry – not only does it make it more expensive for international visitors to come here, it’s cheaper for Australians to go overseas, so they take their holiday and travel dollars elsewhere.
“Also, because our economy has fared better than most through the global financial crisis, Australians are being targeted by marketing campaigns and great offers from other countries, further increasing the pressure on local operators."
Brown said the labour intensive nature of tourism means a downturn equals job losses.
“We calculate that nearly 30,000 tourism jobs have been lost in the past 12 months, many in regional areas which are highly dependent on tourism for economic activity.
“The survey found that 58 per cent of businesses have already cut staffing levels and that 17 per cent expect to make further cuts.
“This tells us that some sectors of the tourism industry have yet to see the bottom of the downturn,”said Brown.
The survey also found that 67 per cent of respondents believed the government’s response to the global financial crisis ‘did not go far enough’ in helping the tourism industry specifically, more than double the number (31 per cent) who said it was ‘about right’.
“There is evidence of a two-speed economy emerging in Australia with tourism one industry that’s being left behind, largely missing out on the current recovery,” Brown said.
Ian Jarrett
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