Tourism worth $35 billion to Australia's economy

The Tourism Satellite Account, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, shows the tourism industry's contribution to the Australian economy rose in 2010-11.

Growth was driven by international visitor consumption growing by 4.4% due to increased arrivals, particularly from Asia. Domestic tourist consumption grew by 2.1%.

• Direct tourism gross domestic product increased 2.5% (or $0.9 billion) to $34.6 billion. Tourism's share of total GDP was lower at 2.5% (down from 2.6% in 2009-10) as the Australian economy grew at a faster rate.

• Direct tourism gross value added increased 2.3% (or $693 million) to $31.5 billion.

• Tourism exports increased 4.4% to $23.7 billion, to now represent around 8.0% of total Australian exports. Tourism imports (or consumption made by Australians when travelling overseas) rose by 11.0% to $30.9 billion.

• Direct tourism employment increased 2.7% (or 13,500 jobs) to 513,700 with most being full-time jobs (289,300). Tourism's share of total employment remains at 4.5%.

The Australian tourism industry has been coping with the effects of a strong Australian dollar, the legacy of the global financial crisis, fierce competition from overseas and natural disasters in Queensland, Japan and New Zealand.

Federal Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson said these were robust figures given the volatile market for global travel, stating "Australian tourism businesses are holding up well in the face of intense global competition, currency movements, economic turmoil and natural disasters.

"Tourism is Australia's largest services export industry and these figures show that its success matters to the whole economy.

"Our marketing campaigns are in full swing including the No Leave No Life TV series. The new business they generate will support economic growth.

"Our Tourism 2020 strategy gives the task of shaping a more productive, innovative, sustainable and resilient industry greater urgency. Investment in both infrastructure and skills will go on working for the tourism industry for many years to come.

"With higher spending - especially from Asian markets - industry and governments are working together to boost our export performance and support more than the half a million jobs that directly rely on tourism."

Enhancements to this year's Tourism Satellite Account, showing both full-time and part-time tourism employment data, reflects a continued investment by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Additional features include enhanced user-functionality developed by the ABS on the release website.

The Tourism Satellite Account is at www.abs.gov.au