Tourism sector begins to see the light
SYDNEY – The strong Australian dollar remains a major concern, although tourism businesses’ expectations have risen for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to new research by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
The latest edition of the TTF-MasterCard Sentiment Survey has found expectations for domestic, international and overall tourism have reached neutral levels for the first time.
TTF executive director Brett Gale said the survey indicates that any improvement in tourism activity will be gradual.
“There’s no question the tourism industry will benefit from the improvement in the world’s economy,†Gale said, “but there won’t be an overnight recovery.â€
“Tourism has been hard hit over the past couple of years by the global financial crisis, swine flu and the strong Australian dollar, with thousands of jobs lost across the country.
“It will take some time to get over the slump, but the good news is that the industry is now starting to see things turn around and is more positive about the outlook.â€
Gale said there was still plenty to do to ensure these heightened expectations are met.
“We’ve seen large increases in airline capacity to and from Australia over the past couple of years and we need to capitalise on that.
“We need to make sure that those seats aren’t just filled by Australians going overseas, but that we’re enticing international visitors to come to Australia.
“That means more marketing dollars and partnerships with industry like those announced recently.
“It’s also essential that the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy is backed by specifically allocated funding and that the recommendations – agreed to by industry – are implemented.
“The strategy received a mixed response in the survey, with almost half rating it ‘neither good nor poor’, although positive ratings outranked negative by 35 per cent to 18 per cent.
“The strategy will be no good to anyone if it ends up sitting on a shelf in Canberra,” Gale said.
Ian Jarrett
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