The International Visitor Survey (IVS) results which measure the results year-on-year and month-on-month for March 2014, reveal the Chinese market remains strong. It has seen a 14% growth in visitor numbers to 697,173, putting it well past the once impenetrable 600,000 mark, and now delivers over $5 billion to the Australian economy.
Tourism industry performance figures show another round of growth with spending by international visitors now nudging $30 billion, an increase of 6% on the previous 12 months.
“The International Visitor Survey (IVS) results show very clearly that our international visitors, particularly those travelling to Australia for a holiday, are making a growing contribution to our overall economic success,” ATEC Managing Director, Peter Shelley said.
“We now have 6 million international visitors coming to Australia each year and we are really seeing the work of our international marketing activities paying off.
“These figures justify the Federal Government’s decision to exempt the tourism industry from any budget cuts and highlights just how much potential economic contribution remains in the industry.”
The figures, which measure the results year-on-year and month-on-month for March 2014, reveal the Chinese market remains strong. It has seen a 14% growth in visitor numbers to 697,173, putting it well past the once impenetrable 600,000 mark, and now delivers over $5 billion to the Australian economy.
“While the Chinese market is growing strongly, we remain exposed to losing ground to more competitive destinations with less onerous visa systems for visitors coming from China.
“ATEC has had direct feedback from Chinese industry partners that the documentation required to get an Australian visa is a significant factor in restricting even greater growth from this market.
“While the Budget was a positive sign of support for the tourism industry, we now need the Government to begin removing barriers to our optimum performance and ATEC looks forward to working with the relevant Ministers on addressing this issue.”
Mr Shelley said the amount and type of documentation required by the Australian visa process included the need to provide the family registration book, often held by the head of the family in another part of China as well as completion of an 18 page application.
“We know our visa application is seen by Chinese visitors as a significant ‘negative’, giving them good reason to divert to other destinations such as Canada, the USA and the UK where the visa application process is more streamlined.
“Once again the IVS shows good leisure growth from traditional markets including the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, France and Italy.
“These markets are now spending more and prove Australia has remained a desirable destination for traditional visitors.”
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