Australia’s growth market remains within the Asia region with strong figures from China, Singapore and Malaysia, ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani says.
Commenting on the latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures Data released today, ATEC Managing Director, Felicia Mariani said that there has been a turnaround in Australia’s key traditional inbound markets.
“There has been gradual and continuous improvement in two of our important traditional markets with year-on-year growth from both Japan and the US,” Ms Mariani said.
“This is strong evidence that we must continue to concentrate on these markets and be ready to take advantage of the rebound as well as strengthening our capacity in new and emerging markets.”
Ms Mariani said China had become a mainstay in the inbound arena and the industry had begun a concerted effort to engage effectively with this market.
“The additional investment currently being put into marketing in China through the Asia Marketing Fund is focused in the right place to take advantage of this continuing growth and, as an industry, we must be fully focused on leveraging the advantages Australia has in its proximity to Asia.
“It is also good to see a continued year-on-year growth out of Japan which will also benefit from additional marketing attention recently announced by Minister Ferguson.
“Our natural environment, climate, food and culture are all strong selling points in the international marketplace and are the things we need to focus on in pushing Australia forward in a competitive environment.”
Ms Mariani said the tough economic environment was continuing to affect the UK market but Australia needed to weather the storm for now.
“The softening of the UK market is a continuing challenge for Australia and we must work hard to ensure our traditional markets form part of our ongoing marketing focus.
“We must continue to strengthen our appeal and remain one of the world’s most sought after destinations.
“Our traditional markets including the UK, Japan and the US are still significant and will continue to be an important element in our success.”
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