Australia

Predictions point towards a return to normalcy in the Australian tourism industry. This forecast, made early into the year, is based on the country recording its strongest growth in overseas arrivals since 2005.

Indeed last year saw the Australian tourism industry suffer its sharpest decline in total tourist consumption since the 2003 SARS outbreak. A turnaround in 2010 is therefore expected in that the value of the tourism industry to the economy is set to increase by 3% to AUD 92 billion. Overseas arrivals to Australia has been fuelled significantly by strong growth from the U.S and Chinese markets, and where this growth is expected to rise 4.3% after performing above expectations during the GFC. Domestic tourism, which was hit by a 5.4% decline in 2009, is on the other hand, expected to pull out of its slump this year and grow in value by 2.9%. According to the chair of the Tourism Forecasting Committee, Bernard Salt, a solid recovery of 4.3% is a good figure for the new year, given the strong growth out of the US and China for 2010.

Given the trend, international travel to Australia is expected to rise 4.9% in 2011 and 4.7% in 2012, thanks to the global economic recovery and a release of pent-up demand. Outbound tourism will still, on the flip side, continue to outstrip inbound arrivals due to factors associated with cheap airfares and the rising value of the Australian dollar, a trend that began in 2008 and is expected to remain as such for at least a decade.

A new industry panel will offer opportunities for indigenous tourism operators to boost their presence in overseas markets, develop successful businesses and attract more tourists to Australia’s shores. This has been revealed by the Australian Tourism Export Council’s (ATEC) new indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel (ITAP) which has been formed to help train and market indigenous tourism businesses to compete effectively in the global tourism marketplace.

ITAP is made up of key indigenous tourism suppliers, a number of mainstream tourism operators, and representatives from both the online and ITO distribution system as well as Indigenous Business Australia (IBA). According to ATEC chairman, John King, with the assistance of the Indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel, is in a unique position to accomplish three things: firstly, increase the presence of indigenous tourism within the global distribution system; secondly, use mentoring, education, employment and training to bring a broader array of indigenous tourism products to export-ready standard and thirdly, to really bring indigenous tourism from a niche product to a core component of the unique Australian tourism experience.

ATEC has worked with Tourism Australia and IBA to organize the first export-ready Indigenous Tourism Champions workshop, where top-line operators were brought in to meet indigenous operators from around Australia to increase the presence of indigenous tourism products in international markets. As well as advising the ATEC National Board on indigenous tourism development programs, ITAP will also be able to initiate projects of its own, such as workshops or training programs.

The number of Australians heading overseas reached record levels in October, according to analysis of the latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures data by the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF). While arrivals for the month grew 6.5% to 485,600 compared to October last year, Australian departures grew 19.6%t to 547,700.

This travel however comes at a cost to local tourism businesses. TTF executive director, Brett Gale, notes that these growing outbound visits reflect the gradual return of demand after a period of poor international arrivals and the substantial new aviation capacity which is available on key routes with more of those seats are being taken by Australians than tourists to Australia. The TTF director exemplifies this by noting that visitors from the United States are up an impressive 26%, although Australians visiting the US are up 46.7%. Indeed over the past 12 months Australians have made more than 6.1 million overseas trips.

As the outbound booms, the trend is that this continues to hurt domestic tourism, but more optimistically, opportunities are seen in that here are so many new airline seats available to bring overseas visitors into Australia though adopting extensive and rigorous international marketing that is capable of making a difference by taking advantage of returning confidence and aviation capacity.

Critics of the recently released Long term strategy for Australian tourism note that the report appears rather flimsy for a national tourism industry which purports to have contributed AUD 40 billion to Australia’s GDP, AUD 23 billion of export earnings and directly employs half a million Australians.

Critics further note that as a response to the far more weighty Jackson Report submitted to the Minister of Tourism a few months earlier, the Long Term Tourism Strategy generates more questions than it addresses. As a strategic report it does not even bother to set a target date. Essentially the report contained nine key points namely: Positioning for Long Term Growth; Leadership; Research; Facilitating Investment and regulatory reform; Labor and Skills; Responding to Challenges; Excellence in Product and Service Delivery; Strengthening competitiveness with industry and product development and Measuring performance. Critics note that the issue which this report manifestly fails to address relates to means at which the country seeks to attract both a larger number of overseas tourists who spend money and do more to encourage Australians to see their own country rather than everywhere else.

It is acknowledged that Australia has done exceedingly well in the qualitative measures of inbound tourism but where its visitor numbers are far lower than the potential. It is suggested that a strategic report worthy of its name should have addressed these pertinent issues.

The Australian federal government has released the long awaited aviation white paper that outlines the needs of the country’s aviation industry for the next decade. Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, cautions however on the need for investment in state-of-the-art air space management technology, including satellite technologies, to cope with ever growing air traffic, especially in reflection of issues affecting Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, prompting the government to look for a second airport site.

However, the white paper did not recommend a second airport site to compliment Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, but instead ruled out the anticipated site of Badgerys Creek, which has been overtaken by years of urban growth in the area and is inconsistent with future NSW spatial planning and land use development plans for the south-west region of Sydney. In regards to security, the government will implement less stringent rules, allowing passengers to take “low-risk” items on to planes such as knitting needles, crochet hooks and nail files and in addition will also allow the use of metal cutlery knives on aircraft and at airport facilities. The new rules will allow security screeners to focus only on items of real risk.

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) aims to double the existing number of Australians travelling to the country by 2012. This was revealed by KTO’s Auditor General, Mr Lee Won Hyung, who further notes that 2009 has seen approximately 100,000 Australians travel to Korea.

An estimated 200,000 Australians are expected to visit Korea at the end of the Visit Korea Year 2010-2012 campaign. Korea, in this light, equally hopes to garner more Australian exchange students, from 200 each year to around 500 by 2012, and boost the number of Australian – Korean sister schools, from the current 40 schools. It is hoped that the welcoming of more Australian exchange students will increase the awareness of, and interest, in Korea as well as improve the existing political relationship between both countries. Visit Korea Year 2010-2012 is a pan-national campaign which envisions focusing on building the Korean tourism brand and developing high-quality tourism products to draw in 10 million foreign visitors.

Each year of the Visit Korea Year campaign will be accompanied with a different theme to highlight the unique culture and many offerings of Korea, including themes such as City and Style (2010), Nature and People (2011) and Blue Ocean (2012). City and Style will centre on Korean pop culture, urban tourism, culture and fashion, while Nature and People will focus on the IAFF World Championship in Athletics in Daegu, green tourism and the country’s rivers and mountains. The International Exposition, Yeosu Korea 2012, will kick off Blue Ocean, which will focus on Korea’s IT technology, maritime tourism, cruise tourism and island tourism.

According to a recent report, the cruise industry remains the standout performer in the Australian tourism sector, with its contribution to the national economy increasing 54% to USD 1.2 billion in 2007-08. Forecasts made in the Access Economic Report indicate that cruise industry is set to achieve an annual growth of 7% over the next decade, significantly outperforming the Australian economy.

Cruise Company, Carnival Australia, believes that the cruise industry’s economic contribution could exceed AUD 3 billion by 2020 given that the latest report from Access Economies is a compelling addition to the intensifying debate around all the critical issues facing the cruise industry now and into the future. According to the Company’s Chief Executive, Ann Sherry, the company will seek to continue working with governments to ensure the development of long term solutions to overcome capacity constraints that could impede the sector’s continued expansion.

Indeed Carnival Australia indicates its enthusiasm in the progress made to improve port facilities but much remains to be done to ensure that this key part of the tourism sector continues to provide thousands of jobs in major ports around Australia given the expectation that the total cruise sector activity will increase 7% each year over the next decade as more Australian families cruise onboard ships which regularly visit major ports such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle, Cairns, Adelaide and Hobart.

The importance of Sydney as a destination is acknowledged as critical to the growth of the cruise sector in terms of attracting international (Cruise) tourists to Australia and where advice has been issued around the provision of suitable infrastructure in Sydney and elsewhere in order for the sector to reach its growth potential.

Australian arrivals to Japan during the month of October increased 9.3% on 2008 figures according to a preliminary report released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The total Australian arrivals for the period were 19,900 compared with 18,200 for the same period last year.

The JNTI attributes the rise in the number to factors associated with the appreciation of the Australian dollar against the yen, special airfare sales, and an increase in media promotions targeting the Australian market. Furthermore, with the launch of the Visit Japan Year 2010 Campaign, a marketing effort aimed at increasing travelers to Japan and achieving Japan’s goal of 10 million international visitors by 2010, JNTO is optimistic that Australian arrivals will continue to increase, especially with Japan’s ski season scheduled to begin soon. Indeed the Australian dollar has been making a steady recovery with one dollar now worth around 80 yen compared to 60 yen at the same time last year.

The figures released by JNTO are based on arrivals of Australian passport holders and include business, leisure, and stopover visitors. Australia remains the sixth major Japan inbound market ahead of the UK, Thailand, Canada and France and behind South Korea, China, Taiwan, USA and Hong Kong.

Services and not just goods attract the traveling Australian shopper. This has been revealed based on returns from the weekend Malaysia’s Year End Sale, or better known locally as simply M-YES. With the Australian dollar powering through, and no indication of slowing down, Australians are now considered among the top three countries for tourist spending in Malaysia.
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Tourism Australia staged an event at the Shibuya 109 Studio in Tokyo to introduce a visiting team of “Aussie Oji (Prince)” in sync with its “Aussie Oji Campaign” intended for the purpose of providing Japanese tourists, especially the market-leading women in their twenties and thirties, with opportunities to mix with friendly and upbeat Australians.
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Singapore Airlines and Tourism New South Wales have signed a joint marketing agreement aimed at boosting visitor numbers to Sydney and beyond. Under the terms of the MoU, both parties will jointly explore and implement activities to promote tourist traffic to New South Wales, by way of Singapore Airlines’ services between Singapore and Sydney.
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Australia remains the country that most people have on their wish list to visit but the Obama effect has seen the United States earn the coveted top spot for the first time in the fifth annual FutureBrand Country Brand Index (CBI). Australia fell to number three, with New Zealand hot on its heels in fourth position.
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The number of Australians travelling overseas has topped six million in a 12-month period for the first time, according to analysis of the latest ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures data by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF). The analysis indicates that almost 630,000 Australians went overseas in September, taking the total for the year ending September to a record 6,019,700.
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Australian tourism businesses have nominated the rising Australian dollar as a key concern to spur more inbound visitor numbers, as the industry continues to struggle in the wake of the global financial crisis and the swine flu outbreak. This is the revelation highlighted by a new research by the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
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A recent survey by Hotels.com reveals that a third of Australian respondents are planning to spend all of their tax returns on a holiday. The survey showed that Australian’s were “burnt out” and desired a relaxing holiday (more than half) or city break (19%) or a cultural trip (16%). About 40% of respondents believed the extra cash from the tax refund was a good reason for taking a holiday while 30% noted that they needed a break from a stressful year.
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Germany is trying to woo more Australians to its cities. This was observed during a presentation by Berlin Tourism promoting its ‘10 Magic Cities of Germany’ campaign where indeed Sydney’s travel trade and media caught a glimpse of.
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Tourism Australia has announced its inclination to competitively boost Australia’s profile in order to get a larger slice of the international incentive travel market. Speaking to media during the recently held Dreamtime 2009, Tourism Australia Executive General Manager Marketing, Nick Baker, notes that strategic steps were being taken to ensure real opportunities were provided for Australian sellers to showcase their products to the incentive travel sector.
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The Canberra International Airport has announced that its AUD 350 million terminal project is on hold because of uncertainty generated by the global financial crisis. The airport had announced plans last December to build a new three-storey terminal with extra check-in counters, air bridges and car parking.
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Australia’s premium tourism agency, Tourism Australia, warns that the country must commit to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to remain competitive in the cluttered tourism market.
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The strength of the Australian economy makes Australians ‘flavour of the month’ for tourism marketers around the globe competing for travel budgets, according to peak national body, Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF). This label comes amid a recently released report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (SBS), where figures for the month of August show the number of Australians heading overseas was up 8.5% while arrivals of international visitors to Australia were down 0.8% on August 2008, meaning that 110,000 more Australians headed overseas vis-à-vis than international visitors coming into the country.
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Australia recently played host to the 2009 ‘Nordic Exposed’ agent workshop. Some 300 agents across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne attended the “Four Seasons, 1000 Regions” workshops, which included both overseas partners, as well as local representation from Nordic Travel, Beyond Travel, Hurtigruten Cruises, Globus & Cosmos and MyBentours.
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More Australian carriers are operating than ever as companies attempt to recover against impacts of the economic downturn by looking around at their grasp of market share. This is not however the case with Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, which has moved backwards in market share.
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Approximately 84% of Australian travelers over the age of 40 years intend to travel overseas in the next three to four years especially to Europe. This outcome is based on a survey undertaken independently by Galaxy Research for Trafalgar Tour based on the survey study on Travel Trends – Australian Travelers over 40 which is expected to be released in four parts over the next 12 months, and cover aspects from family travel to value for money.
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Australia’s accommodation sector is shedding jobs at an even faster rate than during the post-200 Sydney Olympics period and six times faster than the economy as a whole, according to peak national body, Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).
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The Australian tourism industry is tipped to be one of the first sectors to show signs of recovery. An IBISWorld report forecasts that the sector will be worth USD 79.18 billion in 2010, an increase of 1.1% from the previous year given that the country’s tourism industry has actually proved quite resilient in the face of the global financial crisis.
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Australian holiday arrivals and a strong ski season have helped New Zealand enter new territory for visitor arrivals over winter. Latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show that Australian holiday arrivals over the winter season of June, July and August were up 28% on the same three months last year. In addition, Australian holiday arrivals for those three months were also 2% higher than arrivals over the peak 2007/2008 summer months of December, January and February.
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Australian travelers have taken over from the UK and US to become one of Destination Asia’s biggest source markets in recent months. According to the company’s CEO, James Reed, who visited Sydney last week to meet with key industry contacts and incentive companies, the first half of 2009 represents a 10% drop but has been picked up due to the increase of Australian FIT visitors to Asia.
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Following a strong period of recent growth in the Australian inbound market, the Cook Islands has recorded its most phenomenal burst of visitor numbers yet, due in no small part to the success of its latest advertising campaign, spearheaded by Australian representative, the Unique Tourism Collection.
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Australians become more adventurous the older they get, according to the latest research from Expedia. The survey of 1,000 adult Australians, conducted by independent research company Pureprofile on behalf of Expedia.com.au, found respondents in their fifties are significantly more open to exploring off-the-beaten-track destinations and experiencing culture shock than younger travelers.
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Australia’s tourism industry is facing immense challenges this year. This was revealed by Tourism Research Australia in the just released Travel by Australians: June 2009 Quarterly Results of the National Visitor Survey. In the June quarter 2009 overnight trips for holiday purposes declined by 2%, visitor nights increased 3%, and overnight spend declined by 8% compared to the June 2008 quarter.
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Australia is set to play host to the 2009 ‘Nordic Exposed’ agent workshops, with the theme ‘Four Seasons and over 1000 Reasons to visit Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden’. The workshops are slated to be held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in early October highlighting the incredible year round experiences the Nordic region has to offer Australian visitors.
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In an effort to create new demand, and uplift the level of professionalism in the overseas travel industry, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) intends to organize several overseas study tours over the year. These trips will forms part of the human resource development program toward the “next step for growth” outlined in its business plan for the fiscal 2009.
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Australians are still travelling, with all respondents to a recent Visa survey saying they will take a trip in the next two years, though agents canot expect them to plan too far in advance as one in three now describe themselves as a “spontaneous traveler”.
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On the back of a hugely successful Tourism Queensland campaign, two Chinese women have been hand-picked out of thousands of hopefuls to travel across the Northern Territory’s Top End. Their adventures are set to be featured on China’s largest TV station, reaching 520 million viewers as well as online. A Chinese film crew will follow the adventures of Ms Yan and ski instructor Bei Liu over the next fortnight.
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Australia’s inaugural Health and Wellness travel conference has seen delegates issue the ‘Cairns Declaration’, outlining the broad principles of Australia’s planned entry into the lucrative and growing medical tourism sector. More than 60 delegates representing the tourism, health, medical and government sectors heard experts from around the globe outline the opportunities available in the Health and Wellness travel sector.
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Australian flag-carrier, Qantas, recently announced that it had posted an 88% drop in annual net profit to USD96.6 million and has as a consequence unveiled a massive cost-cutting plan to counter the crippling financial burden facing the company. The carrier, which also recorded its first half-year loss in six years, blamed the worse-than-expected result on weaker domestic and international demand for travel during the current global financial crisis.
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A new survey from Visa shows that travelers are turning to blogs, family and friends for travel information when planning a trip rather than television, newspapers or magazines. Travelers today are shunning “expert” opinion from TV shows, newspapers and specialty travel magazines in favor of bloggers and information from friends and family.
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Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is set to offer Australians what it terms ‘bargain’ business and economy class airfares to over 40 European destinations via the carrier’s main hub in Copenhagen, Denmark. This offer comes amidst the strengthening of the Australian Dollar, which gives a great advantage for both holidaymakers and business travelers heading to Europe.
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In a new marketing campaign, Australia’s New South Wales Government is attempting to reach younger travelers from overseas through social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. The NSW government will in this regard attempt to make Sydney and NSW a more attractive travel, work, and study destination to those aged between 18 and 30 as part of their Global Youth Program strategy that seeks to employ different campaigns slated for different international markets.
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Tourism Australia has decided to close overseas offices in Thailand, Taiwan and Dubai. All three offices have to pay off staff and settle all financial obligations by June 30, a move that will cost TA a huge bill in severance pay and office rentals that have to be terminated.
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With the Australian summer correlative to the United States summer there is a lot more opportunities to place capacity in Australia as ships retire from the northern cruising season. Royal Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein, therefore, hopes that infrastructure to facilitate the types of ships that Royal Caribbean houses in its fleet are in place when they come calling.
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Both international and domestic air travel bookings made through travel agencies in Australia remain down by around 12% compared to last year with business class travel, affected most by the credit crunch, posting a 36% slump. This was revealed by Amadeus, one of the largest processor of travel bookings in the world, who note that bookings by Australians to European destinations suffered a 25% drop, followed by that to North America by 22%, and Asia-Pacific by 12% compared to last year.
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The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has embarked on a new drive to boost environmental awareness in the business events sector, through its involvement in a government sustainability program. The centre has signed up for an 18-month New South Wales Government Sustainability Advantage Program in order to identify new measures that will help the venue and its clients achieve a better environment. Operated by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, the program is designed to boost business understanding of sustainability and assist in the identification and management of present and future environmental issues, with a particular focus on energy efficiency. Read the rest of the article…

The MICE industry in Australia is set to make important headways where Tourism Australia has outlined a comprehensive trade marketing program to promote the country as a premier business events destination and increase its share of the lucrative sector. According to Tourism Australia Managing Director, Geoff Buckley, the innovative trade marketing program is to promote Australia as an aspirational destination that offers value for money in the current climate where competition between destinations for the business events and incentive dollar is indeed fierce. Read the rest of the article…