Tourism plateaus over year (australia)
The number of overseas visitors to Australia has plateaued in the past 12 months, new figures show.
But the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says there's been strong long-term growth in tourism over the past decade.
The ABS reported 472,200 short-term visitor arrivals in June, up 0.5 per cent on June 2007 and 0.1 per cent on May 2008.
The highest percentage increase for the 12 months to June was recorded by India (25.4 per cent), while Japanese visitor numbers dipped 21.4 per cent.
NSW was the intended state of stay for 39 per cent of all short-term visitors over the year, followed by Queensland (27 per cent), Victoria (18 per cent), Western Australia (10 per cent), South Australia (three per cent) and the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania (each one per cent).
In an analysis of visitor figures over the past decade, the ABS said that despite the SARS outbreak, the Iraq war and global terrorism fears overseas visitor numbers had risen from 4.2 million in 1997-98 to 5.63 million in June this year.
The high point over the period was in February 2007 (474,800 movements) and the low point was in September 1998 (348,000 movements).
Over the decade, Japanese visitor numbers have halved.
In the 12 months to June, New Zealand was the largest contributor to short-term visitor arrivals, representing 20 per cent of all arrivals.
Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) managing director Christopher Brown said the Australian tourism industry needed to get its backyard in order in the face of a slowing global economy.
"Australian tourism is facing a battle on two fronts," Mr Brown said.
"On the one hand, a perfect storm of global factors beyond our control, such as the strong Australian dollar and fierce competition from other destinations, is affecting demand for Australian tourism.
"On the other, we need to address challenges to growth at home by investing in, developing and promoting the tourism experiences and attractions that will make us more competitive on the world stage."
Mr Brown said the booming economies of Asia were producing a whole new class of holidaymakers and business travellers.
But the industry still needed to hold onto its traditional markets.
The ABS also reported a seven per cent rise in the number of Australians travelling overseas over the 12 months to June.
Indonesia, Fiji and Thailand were the most favoured destinations, while China fell out of favour.
Over the decade, the ABS found overseas travel had become more popular for Australians, rising from three million visits in 1997-98 to a peak of 5.1 million in June 2007.
The ABS said the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 had influenced travel plans, with visits to Indonesia halving from 11 per cent of all trips in 1997-98 to six per cent in 2007-08.
But the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says there's been strong long-term growth in tourism over the past decade.
The ABS reported 472,200 short-term visitor arrivals in June, up 0.5 per cent on June 2007 and 0.1 per cent on May 2008.
The highest percentage increase for the 12 months to June was recorded by India (25.4 per cent), while Japanese visitor numbers dipped 21.4 per cent.
NSW was the intended state of stay for 39 per cent of all short-term visitors over the year, followed by Queensland (27 per cent), Victoria (18 per cent), Western Australia (10 per cent), South Australia (three per cent) and the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania (each one per cent).
In an analysis of visitor figures over the past decade, the ABS said that despite the SARS outbreak, the Iraq war and global terrorism fears overseas visitor numbers had risen from 4.2 million in 1997-98 to 5.63 million in June this year.
The high point over the period was in February 2007 (474,800 movements) and the low point was in September 1998 (348,000 movements).
Over the decade, Japanese visitor numbers have halved.
In the 12 months to June, New Zealand was the largest contributor to short-term visitor arrivals, representing 20 per cent of all arrivals.
Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) managing director Christopher Brown said the Australian tourism industry needed to get its backyard in order in the face of a slowing global economy.
"Australian tourism is facing a battle on two fronts," Mr Brown said.
"On the one hand, a perfect storm of global factors beyond our control, such as the strong Australian dollar and fierce competition from other destinations, is affecting demand for Australian tourism.
"On the other, we need to address challenges to growth at home by investing in, developing and promoting the tourism experiences and attractions that will make us more competitive on the world stage."
Mr Brown said the booming economies of Asia were producing a whole new class of holidaymakers and business travellers.
But the industry still needed to hold onto its traditional markets.
The ABS also reported a seven per cent rise in the number of Australians travelling overseas over the 12 months to June.
Indonesia, Fiji and Thailand were the most favoured destinations, while China fell out of favour.
Over the decade, the ABS found overseas travel had become more popular for Australians, rising from three million visits in 1997-98 to a peak of 5.1 million in June 2007.
The ABS said the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 had influenced travel plans, with visits to Indonesia halving from 11 per cent of all trips in 1997-98 to six per cent in 2007-08.
Comments