ATEC’s Tourism Export Business Barometer reveals what is happening on the ground for export tourism operators today and into the future, and the members are expecting the most growth from China, the US, Singapore, Indonesia and India over the next 3 years.
Australia’s tourism export sector continues to grow off the back of both traditional and emerging markets, but a weakening of previously strong markets points to the impacts of global influences.
“The International Visitor Survey (IVS) revealed some significant changes in our key tourism export markets over the past 12 months,” ATEC Managing Director, Peter Shelley said.
“We are seeing the re-engagement of traditional markets including USA & Japan combined with positive growth in the Korean market, reflecting a welcome broadening of the market mix.
“We are also seeing evidence of a decline in the rate of growth from the UK, which is one of our traditionally strong markets, reflecting the impact of Brexit, the decrease of the GBP and the negativity driven by the backpacker tax.
“While China remains a solid growth market and a huge contributor to our overall export yield – spending more than $9 billion annually on our shores – we are seeing an increasing diversity in our markets.
“The message is clear: while we have a compelling tourism offering we must recognise the potential impact of external influences on key markets and manage our exposure accordingly.”
Mr Shelley said ATEC recently surveyed its members, taking an industry barometer on where export tourism is heading over the coming three years.
“ATEC’s Tourism Export Business Barometer reveals what is happening on the ground for export tourism operators today and into the future, and our members are expecting the most growth from China, the US, Singapore, Indonesia and India over the next 3 years.
“At our annual industry conference held in Canberra last week, discussions with the 400 delegates revealed industry sentiment is confident and strong with an expectation our success is set to continue.
“Our members also say the policy priorities they believe will support continuing export tourism growth are marketing investment, visa reform, reducing taxes and charges and training and development.
“ATEC has an active role in delivering capacity building programs for our industry and we are proud of the work we have done in helping to improve service delivery, supporting businesses to enter into the export tourism marketplace and providing mentoring programs to the industry.
“Whilst the forward projections remain very positive, the declining growth in a key market like the UK remind us that while this sector has enormous growth potential, we need to remove any impediments to travel to Australia and ensure we have adequate marketing investment by government to remain competitive in attracting international travellers.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
