Asia drives growth in record overseas visitors to Australia

Major Asian markets drove much of the growth in Australia’s record 5.4 million international visitors in 2010, new figures show.

Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey revealed visitor numbers increased five per cent in 2010 year-on-year. Visitor arrivals from Asia were up 11 per cent, nights spent in Australia were up 13 per cent and spend in Australia was up 11 per cent.

Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, and Minister Assisting on Tourism, Senator Nick Sherry, welcomed the results, which show Australia, having increased its share of global arrivals through the Global Financial Crisis, is holding those gains.

Visitor arrivals in the December Quarter 2010 from China (up 26 percent), Korea (up 22 percent) and India (up 17 percent) outline the continued dominance of growth from Asia. While the slower economic recovery in the US (down 8 percent) and Germany (down 5 percent) has resulted in a softening out of those markets.“The growth may be uneven, but the strength of the Asian economy is paying dividends for the Australian tourism industry,” Minister Ferguson said.

“The strong growth from China is set to continue. Australia negotiated a capacity increase of 4,000 airline seats into Australia’s four major gateways and Chinese carriers are now making use of almost all their current seat allocation.“Business visits continued to rebound strongly from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis with numbers in the December Quarter up 14 per cent benefiting capital cities.

“Regional Australia had a mixed December quarter- Tropical North Queensland (up 7 percent), Flinders Ranges (up 24 percent) Ballarat (up 53 percent) and four of Western Australia’s five regions experienced strong growth yet seven of Queensland’s eleven regions saw declines.”

“While not all our markets are performing as well as Asia, the Government is working with industry to counteract some of the sluggish economic factors affecting other travel markets,” said Minister Sherry.“Targeted campaigns such as the Oprah Winfrey shows and the Tourism Industry Support Package are playing an important marketing role.

“The practical measures we’re taking to help many tourism operators get back on their feet after the natural disasters earlier this year will also help this $34 billion industry to take full advantage of future growth,” Senator Sherry said.

Source = au.ibtimes