Tourism identified as vital to Australia's future prosperity

Tourism representatives have welcomed indications that a significant new report will highlight the key role tourism can play in Australia's future economic growth.

A preview of Building the Lucky Country series, Positioning for prosperity? Catching the next wave, which will be released in full by Deloitte Access Economics in 2014, highlights tourism identified as one Australia's five 'super-growth' industries alongside agribusiness, gas, international education and wealth management.

Introducing the preview, Deloitte state "with the cooling resources boom, the falling Australian dollar, the new government and rebounding business confidence (this is the) better time for Australian businesses to start thinking about where future prosperity will come from.

"In ... Positioning for Prosperity?  we focus on where Australia will find its next waves of economic growth (and) we take a deep dive into our current wave, mining and the five new fronts; agribusiness, gas, international education, tourism and wealth management."

Tourism Australia and the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) have each welcomed the recognition that tourism can play a key role in Australia's future economic growth.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy was encouraged to see the Australian tourism industry being recognised as an important driver of opportunity and economic growth, both now and into the future.

McEvoy explained "as this report acknowledges, our industry already has a long-term strategy which has momentum and which is working. Tourism 2020 provides a blueprint for growing visitor numbers and visitor spending, by targeting those international markets that will drive future growth.

"Asia is critical to these plans, and I'm pleased to say we already have long-term strategic plans already in place for two of the region's most important inbound markets, China and India."

McEvoy said Tourism Australia agreed that the success and long-term sustainability of Australian tourism required more than just effective marketing campaigns, adding "we also require physical investment in tourism infrastructure, particularly hotel stock, as well as improved air links and increases in aviation capacity.

"These are certainly challenges which are high up on our list of priorities and areas upon which we are heavily focused."

ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani, added that the report "tells us what the tourism industry has known for a long time the tourism economy is a huge contributor and has the potential to grow even further."

"(The latest) overseas arrivals figures make the Asian growth story clear, with annual increases of between 6.5% for Malaysia and 7% for Indonesia, almost 10% for Singapore and a very healthy 14% for China and we are seeing long-term consecutive results.

"Of most significance is the yield from these markets which, in the case of China, is growing at an enormous rate that will see this market worth upwards of $7.4 billion a year by 2020."

Mariani said the Deloitte report provided an important reminder to both government and industry on the importance of investing in the future, continuing "here we have a clearly identified opportunity, a report that provides us with a vision of the future.

"Now is the time to invest in that future by ensuring our tourism industry is well equipped to meet the demands of the Asian visitor of the future.

"ATEC has already recognised these opportunities and is providing the industry with some of the tools they will need to fully benefit from the Asian market including the Welcoming Chinese Visitor's program that helps tourism businesses build their business capacity through a comprehensive, step-by-step program of education and accreditation.

"Being 'service ready' is a critical component in meeting the needs of Asian visitors, but being 'product ready' and then 'sales ready' are also crucial streams of learning for Australia in successfully connecting with our international markets, including Asia.

Mariani said ATEC was keen to work with the new Federal Trade Minister, Andrew Robb, in building a future ready tourism industry and welcomed the inclusion of the industry in the Trade portfolio.

She concluded "this report is clear and positive acknowledgement of the importance of tourism and we are pleased the new Abbott Government has recognised the tourism industry as a central plank of Australia's export offering."

Click here to view the introduction/summary to Building the Lucky Country series, Positioning for prosperity? Catching the next wave. 

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