The secret’s been out for a while; we have one stunning country.
Endless coastlines, world-class surf breaks, lush forests and ancient rugged mountain ranges.
It’s something we appreciate on a daily basis, but it’s also something we love sharing
with the world.
And why wouldn’t we?
Tourism is a key driver of our economy – a one-hundred and thirty billion dollar industry
that is continuing to grow.
For the past 50 years, tourism research has supported this growth and highlighted the
crucial role tourism plays in the Australian economy.
Austrade continues to produce world class research and data that equips industry, and
particularly small to medium businesses, with evidence based information to strengthen their
marketing and business decisions.
This role remains more important than ever with Tourism contributing more to our GDP
than agriculture, while at the same time employing one in every dozen Australians.
For every dollar directly earned by tourism, another eighty-two-cents is generated for
other parts of the economy – that’s more than the retail, mining, or education and
training sectors contribute.
And, unlike many other Australian industries, the money doesn’t stay in capital cities
– with nearly halfgoing to regional Australia.
That means small regional towns will thrive for decades to come all off the back of the
tourism industry.
It means new hotels, businesses,restaurants, schools, hospitals and community amenities–
all bringing local jobs, and boosting the local economy.
Tourism in Australia is driven by far more than our beautiful landscape.
It is propelled by our growing food and wine culture and the value of the booming international
education sector.
In the last financial year, international visitors spent five-point-seven billion dollars
on premium Aussie cuisine and world-class local wine.
And with 685,000 international students enrolled in Australian educational institutions in
the first half of 2017, annual education exports are now worth $28 billion to our economy.
While our neighbours from New Zealand still visit us the most, Chinese tourists spent
almost 10-billion-dollars in the last financial year – with one-point-two million Chinese
coming down under.
And this figure is set to nearly double by 2020.
The economic benefits for Australia don’t stop when they head home either – with research
finding Chinese visitors are 87% more likely to buy Australian products back at home having
visited our shores.
Australia is in the best spot to reap the benefits of rising incomes across Asia – as
a swelling middle class looks for international travel opportunities.
Austrade is committed to the China tourism market increasing the quality of experiences
for Chinese visitors both within and outside the Approved Destination Status scheme,through
improvements around tour guides, payment platforms and general industry education.
Austrade is committed to furthering the growth of the tourism sector.
We do that by consistently advocating for policies aimed at enhancing aviation capacity,
improving visa access, encouraging tourism infrastructure and investment and working
with the industry to make sure it has enough skilled Australian workers to keep it moving.
We are also committed to supporting growth in regional areas by funding tourism infrastructure
and experiences through programs such as the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure Program.
We also support the international market development efforts of tourism businesses through Austrade’s
Export Market Development Grants scheme.
Austrade remains dedicated to sharing Australia with the world – and our daily work positions
tourism in Australia to achieve its potential.
Its never been as clear.
Tourism is the future of our great nation.
Make sure that you are a part of that future.
Visit www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/tourism.
We’re here to help you