Martin Ferguson
Minister for Resources and Energy
Minister for Tourism
Senator Nick Sherry
Minister for Small Business
Minister Assisting on Deregulation and Public Sector Superannuation
Minister Assisting on Tourism
Continued strong visitor arrivals from China and India are making up for some of the impact on the Australian tourism industry from recent natural disasters and the timing of Easter.
“March 2011 marks the 14th consecutive month of short-term arrivals growth from China,” Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, said.
“The Australian Government and Tourism Australia are working closely with Chinese airlines such as China Southern who just this week announced additional direct flights into Perth.
“We’ll continue to aggressively market into China – that’s not to say we’re taking our eye off the ball with strong traditional markets such as the US, UK and Japan which remain high-yielding markets for Australia.
“The Japanese earthquake and tsunami have knocked one of Australia’s most important tourism markets, particularly in Queensland – just when Japanese visitors were beginning to return in larger numbers.
“The disasters also encouraged more Australians to holiday at home with short-term resident departures from Australia decreasing 4.7 per cent following 23 consecutive months of growth in departures.
“Together with the Queensland Government, we’re spending $12 million on marketing, skills and road-shows to win market share in a fiercely competitive market place,” Minister Ferguson said.
The Minister Assisting on Tourism, Nick Sherry, said practical measures are mitigating the effects of the strong Australian dollar.
“Through tax breaks for small business, TQUAL Grants and home-grown TV campaigns such as No Leave No Life, we’re putting tens of thousands of tourism enterprises on a stronger footing to attract Australians to holiday at home.
“The volume of co-operation between industry and all levels of government is unprecedented. The National Long-Term Tourism Strategy is nurturing long-term resilience,” Minister Sherry said.
Short-term resident departures from Australia almost mirrored the decline in visitor arrivals, decreasing 4.7 per cent following 23 consecutive months of growth in departures.
Overseas Arrivals and Departures March 2011 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the number of short-term visitor arrivals decreased 5.1 per cent in March 2011 (compared with March 2010). There was an increase in arrivals from China (up 16.7 per cent), India (up 14.9 per cent) and Malaysia (up 8.5 per cent). The largest decreases were from South Korea (down 24 per cent), the United Kingdom (down 22 per cent) and Japan (down 17.8 per cent).
The full results can be downloaded at www.abs.gov.au