Asian visitors boost Australian inbound tourism

A rise in the number of tourists from China, India and Singapore is expected to help drive strong growth in inbound tourism to Australia in the current financial year, according to Tourism Research Australia's 2014 State of the Industry report.

The just published 2014 report forecasts growth of 10.5% for China, 6.6% for India and 5.8% for Singapore with Asian markets accounting for 47% of total Australian tourism exports.

This financial year, international visitor spending is expected to rise by 6% to $33 billion, with total spending including domestic tourism and day trips rising to $105 billion.

Other features of the report show:

• Australia is making progress towards its tourism industry’s target of between $115 billion and $140 billion by 2020
• Total domestic expenditure grew 2.9% to $71.5 billion
• Future supply growth and investment attraction remain solid, and are likely to broaden the tourism investment pipeline which is estimated at almost $50 billion.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said the State of Industry report provided a valuable annual assessment of how Australia’s tourism industry was tracking as well as identifying longer-term issues likely to affect its future performance.

O’Sullivan stated “this report reinforces the fact that tourism is a serious industry, making a very significant contribution to our country’s future economic prosperity.

“With international visitor expenditure up 7.2% to a record $30.1 billion, and domestic and international aviation capacities growing strongly, we are undoubtedly making solid progress towards our industry’s Tourism 2020 goals. 

"There’s more to be done in hotel accommodation supply, but ... there is certainly confidence and a growing appetite for investment in Australia’s tourism infrastructure."

Click here to view the Report.

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