The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, says the results of Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey shows improvement in domestic tourism in the December quarter despite the economic difficulties of 2009 affecting domestic travel in Australia last year.
Domestic visitor nights for the December quarter 2009 were unchanged year-on-year and expenditure was up 2 per cent.
Overnight trips for the December 2009 quarter were down 2.2 per cent year-on-year. The decline was less than for the previous three quarters reflecting a recovery in consumer confidence throughout the year.
Domestic day visitor expenditure in 2009 was at its highest in 10 years. While the use of hotel and resort accommodation was down 7 per cent, the use of rented accommodation was up 7 per cent and caravan and camping ground accommodation increased by 5 per cent.
In a year when the global economy contracted for the first time since World War Two, it is no surprise that domestic tourism also suffered- overnight trips were down 7 percent, visitor nights down 6 per cent and business travel was most affected with a 9 per cent decline in 2009 compared with 2008.
That’s why, as part of the economic stimulus, the Australian Government invested more than $500 million in small business incentives and support to help the 93 per cent of tourism businesses in this category.
Minister Ferguson said: “Domestic tourism is the bread and butter of the industry and Australians showed their support for local businesses by taking day trips and staying in cheaper accommodation.
“More than 111 businesses invested in the Tourism Australia “No Leave No Life” domestic marketing campaign to encourage Australians to use their 123 million days of accrued annual leave worth $33 billion and have a holiday at home.
“Tourism businesses recognised the need to compete harder with the retail sector for discretionary dollars and it paid off.
“Tourism businesses were also smarter in managing their workforce, reducing costs by switching part of their workforce from full-time to part-time, resulting in an overall increase of 36,000 tourism jobs, retaining their human capital through the downturn for when the inevitable economic recovery occurs.
Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey comes one week after the release of data showing the Australian tourism industry out-performed the rest of the world last year, with international visitor arrivals to Australia in 2009 matching 2008 levels at 5.6 million.
Released on March 10, Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey showed visitor nights increased six per cent and visitor expenditure increased by five per cent in Australia in 2009, despite global tourism declining by four per cent.