RSS 
Related objects
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
World video travel guide
Quarterly Market Update
Tourism Australia’s Quarterly Market Update provides an update to industry on the
current state of international tourism for Australia, as well as Tourism Australia’s major
international activities. This report covers performance for the first two quarters of
2011 (January to June).
August 2011
uced
aviation capacity to Australia and high fuel surcharges sharply
increasing the price of airfares.
Visitation from New Zealand was expected to be impacted after
the Christchurch earthquake in February, yet arrivals continued to
be strong for the first two quarters of the year, growing by 4.2 per
cent. Arrivals from New Zealand were however slightly impacted in
June (down 3.7 per cent) due to the disruptions to international air
travel caused by the volcanic ash cloud in Chile.
Whilst comparative results from Europe in the last quarter were
skewed by last year’s disruption to international air travel from
the Icelandic ash cloud, arrivals from key European markets
including the UK, France and Germany remain in decline for the
first two quarters of 2011 against 2010. Arrivals from the US were
also down 2.8 per cent for the same period. With the Australian
dollar remaining high, the ground costs of an Australian holiday
have increased. Rising fuel surcharges are also making airfares
to Australia more expensive, with long-haul markets seeing the
largest price rises. These factors combined are continuing to affect
Australia’s competitiveness against other destinations, particularly
in Europe and the US, but increasingly in Asian markets as well.
Tourism Australia and Tourism Research Australia’s analysis into
the impact of exchange rate movements in influencing travel
behaviours helps provide context for Australia’s current tourism
performance. It has shown that the fundamental driver of tourism
demand for Australia is the economic growth of source countries
and the subsequent income, wealth and consumer confidence.
The analysis also indicates that exchange rates have more bearing
on tourism expenditure than visitation. On the other hand, more
Australian residents are taking advantage of the strength of the
dollar to travel overseas, with outbound resident departures up by
10.2 percent for the first two quarters of 2011.
Business arrivals, which have recovered strongly in the last year
and remain up five per cent for the first two quarters of 2011, have
softened in recent months.
Figure 1 – Tourist arrivals to Australia
(rolling annual) and monthly percentage
change on the previous year.
• According to the latest ABS figures, there were 2.8 million short
term international visitor arrivals in the first two quarters of 2011,
a slight increase of 0.8 per cent relative to the previous year.
• Major global events in the first two quarters of 2011 have impacted
international travel to Australia, including natural disasters in
Queensland, the Tohoku earthquake, economic downturns in the
US and Europe, and the Chilean volcanic ash cloud.
• Globally, performance remains mixed. Strong growth from key
markets in Asia and New Zealand is driving overall arrivals to
Australia, whilst arrivals have decreased from Japan, Korea, the
US and Europe.
• Total international visitor expenditure for the first quarter of 2011
increased three per cent, however leisure expenditure has softened.
International visitors are taking shorter trips to Australia and
spending fewer nights outside the key gateway cities.
• With the Australian dollar remaining high, the ground costs of an
Australian holiday have increased for many international visitors.
Rising fuel surcharges are also making airfares to Australia more
expensive. This is impacting tourism expenditure and reducing
Australia’s competitiveness against other destinations.
