Forecasts: Down But Not Out – Australia’s Tourism Resilience
The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) finds that Australia is holding its appeal as a destination in a very difficult international environment.
The latest forecasts on the outlook for Australian tourism this year and beyond are now available online, free in PDF format.
On The International Front
The new forecasts expect that international visitor numbers to Australia will decline by 4 per cent in 2009, but then return to 3.1 percent growth in 2010.
Australia’s resilience is attributed to factors such as:
- favourable exchange rates for international travellers
- lower oil prices
- intense competition among airlines and tourism operators
Our international marketing campaigns have also helped during these difficult times while seven of our top ten overseas markets are in recession.
The outlook is mixed for key markets with growth expected from China and India and the Middle East while declines are expected from markets such as Japan and South Korea.
The economic value of international tourism to Australia is forecast to decrease 2.1 per cent to $24.2 billion in 2009 before returning to growth in 2010 (+2.2%).
Tourism At Home
The outlook for domestic tourism is also mixed with 2009 expected to see Australians taking fewer domestic trips but spending more during their travels.
Domestic visitor nights are forecast to decrease 3.9% in 2009 while the economic value of domestic tourism is forecast to increase 2.9% this year to $64.2 billion.
