OVERVIEW

 

Tourism in Australia represents a large sector of the economy. The Tourism industry operates in a globally competitive market and is experiencing tight but improving conditions as the global economy recovers from the economic downturn.

 

Operators that concentrate on factors under their direct control, such as new product investment, service and training, product positioning and pricing, will experience relatively solid performance.

 

TRENDS

 

Currently, Australians are making their preferences known by heading off overseas in droves. At the moment, the equivalent of 30.2% of the population is taking an overseas trip each year, and this is set to continue. To become more competitive, the Australian Tourism industry needs to recognize and counter this trend.

 

The tourism labor market in Western Australia is facing an enormous challenge as a result of skills shortages. The issues are not short-term or transient. Market forces alone will not ensure the most favorable outcome for the industry and labor market reforms are needed.

 

 

KEY FORECASTS

 

Inbound tourism arrivals are forecast to increase in 2011 (up 4.9%) with growth easing to average 3.9% per year to 2019. TIEV (Total Inbound Economic Value) is forecast to increase at an average rate of 3.8% (in real terms) between 2009 and 2019 to reach $71.7 million (in real terms).

 

 

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

 

Tourism Western Australia is in the midst of a comprehensive plan to encourage strategic tourism growth by providing support and facilitating investment opportunities. This is to be achieved by:

 

    * Ensuring the environment is right to attract capital investment and re-investment

    * Enhancing existing products by encouraging providers to become quality assured and 

       by providing business development assistance

    * Facilitating the development of new tourism products

    * Improving the provision of destination and product information and booking facilities for visitors to Western Australia.

MARKET SIZE

Global tourism declined 4.3% in 2009, mainly because of the negative impact on leisure and business travel from the global financial crisis. In contrast, the number of international visitor arrivals to Australia in 2009 remained largely unchanged, making Australia one of the better performers of the year. In real terms, the economic value of inbound tourism fell 1.1% to $25.1 billion.

 

Key industry figures for the tourism market (2009) are as follows:

 

Key Industry Figures	2009
Industry Revenue	81,415
Revenue Growth	-1.2 %
Industry Gross Product	43,703
Number of Establishments	62,032
Number of Enterprises	55,715
Employment	503,276 People
Exports	23,699
Imports	--
Total Wages	20,997

 

                                                 

KEY PLAYERS

 

Tourism Australia

Qantas Airways Limited        

Virgin Blue Holdings Limited           

Octaviar Limited        

Flight Centre Limited            

AAPC Limited

GROWTH FIGURES AND FDI FIGURES

Foreign investment rules are liberal and encourage inward investment. The country has well-defined regulatory bodies and a well-established legal system that can be described as investor friendly.

 

There are no specific figures available detailing FDI for tourism, but these figures are included in the broader categories of Retail or Other.

 

Stock of Foreign Direct Investment in Australia by Industry

 

Industry	$ million	% share of total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	700	0.2
Mining	99,659	25.4
Manufacturing	73,848	18.8
Electricity, gas and water	16,105	4.1
Construction	13,037	3.3
Wholesale and retail trade	57,093	14.5
Accommodation, cafes and restaurants	914	0.2
Transport and communication	25,929	6.6
Finance and insurance	53,143	13.5
Property and business services	33,830	8.6
Other services	6,105	1.6
Unallocated	12,500	3.2
Total	392,862	100

 

 

RESOURCES: INDUSTRY GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

 

Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) is the peak industry body representing Australia’s $26 billion tourism export sector, http://www.atec.net.au.

 

Tourism Australia is the Australia Government agency responsible for the international and domestic marketing of Australia as a destination for leisure and business travel, http://www.tourism.australia.com.

 

Tourism Research Australia is a business unit of Tourism Australia providing superior research information that supports improved decision-making, marketing and tourism industry performance for the Australian community, http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/tra/Pages/default.aspx.

 

Tourism Western Australia is responsible for the promotion of Western Australia as a tourist destination, http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au.

 

 

 

Current Investment Opportunities in Australia:

 

For current investment opportunities in Australia, please click here  :   http://investinaustralia.com/current-opportunities

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

1. Editors, "Tourism in Australia: Australian Industry Report," Ibis World, August 2010
2. Unknown, “Workforce challenges in the Australian tourism sector”, Tourism Western Australia
   
3. Editors, “Tourism Australia: Tourism Forecasts”, June 2010, Tourism Australia
4. Unknown, “FDI in Australia by Industry”, NSW Investment

 

 

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