Tourism in Australia

A surfer on the Gold Coast. An iconic global image of Australian tourism focuses on its beaches, which are an integral part of the Australian identity.^[1]

Driving on the Lasseter Highway near the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.

The Whitsunday Islands in Queensland.

Ski ranges on Mount Hotham, located in Victoria

Great Keppel Island beach

Tourism is an important industry for the Australian economy. In the financial year 2010/11, the tourism industry represented 2.5% of Australia's GDP at a value of approximately A$35 billion to the national economy. This is equivalent to tourism contributing $95.9 million a day to the Australian economy.^[2] Domestic tourism is a significant part of the tourism industry, and was responsible for 73% of the total direct tourism GDP.^[2]

For the year ending April 2015, there was 7.1 million visitor arrivals.^[3] Tourism employed 513,700 people in Australia in 2010-11, of which 43.7% of total tourism employed persons were part-time. Tourism also contributed 8.0% of Australia's total export earnings in 2010-11.^[2]

Popular Australian destinations include the coastal cities of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as other high profile destinations including regional Queensland, the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest reef. Uluru and the Australian outback are other popular locations, as is the Tasmanian wilderness. The unique Australian wildlife is also another significant point of interest in the country's tourism.

Trends

Despite the global economic challenges and natural disasters in 2010-2011, Australia's tourism growth was supported by increased consumption (up 4.4% over the previous year, largely due to an increase in the number of visitors from overseas). On the back of a strong Australian dollar, 2010-11 also saw a record 7.4 million short-term resident departures from Australia, an increase of 9.9% from 2009-10. Domestic tourism consumption grew at less than half the pace of international consumption in 2010-11 (up 2.1% compared to 4.4%).^[4]

The Australian Government released the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential on 15 November 2010, and estimates the Australian tourism industry to be worth up to $140 billion in overnight expenditure. This growth will largely be due to key emerging markets, including the China market, which is estimated to be the largest economic contributor to the Australian tourism industry by 2020.^[5] The number of Chinese visitors has more than doubled from 2006 to 2012 reaching a peak of 626,400 in 2012 and surpassing for the first time the number of arrivals from the United Kingdom.^[6] In 2013, China was Australia's fastest growing tourist market.^[7] According to Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy, the Chinese are the highest spending visitors to the country.^[8]

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  Monthly short term visitor arrivals into Australia since 1976

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  Monthly long term visitor arrivals into Australia since 1976

Visas

All visitors to Australia, apart from New Zealanders, require advance permission to enter the country. For most countries, a full visa is required. Holders of passports of all European Union countries as well as all Schengen Area countries and European microstates only need to apply online for an eVisitor authorisation. Citizens of some OECD and some East Asian countries are able to apply for the similar Electronic Travel Authority authorisation.^[9]

History

From colonial days the idea of travel has been more natural to Australians than to people long established at one place. Immigrants, having once broken away from their homes, were prone to continue their search for wealth or security for a while, or, having settled down, to return to the old countries to visit their kin and refresh old memories. The opening of new lands, the establishment of industries and towns and the consequent dispersal of people over Australia created a habit of mobility and enterprise which encouraged Australians to face the hardships of early travel by coach, on horseback or by ship. Even so, the slow and uncomfortable modes of travel and the vast distances separating Australian towns tended to restrict travel to essential journeys for purposes of trade, to pursue an occupation or to settle. This changed somewhat with the advent of rail travel.

The initial emphasis in tourism for purposes of pleasure was strongest on travel to resorts near the main population centres. These included the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and the hill and coast resorts close to Melbourne and other major Victorian cities. The existing railway services radiating from those cities, together with the 'feeder' horse-drawn, and later motor, coach transport connecting with the railways, rendered the State Government railway tourist bureaux the main means for selling intrastate, and even some interstate, travel.

After the 1914-18 War in the 1920s, and again after the easing of the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s, travel for all purposes increased steadily. It continued to be mainly by rail, but also by sea, although the family motor era began in the 1930s to participate in the shorter intrastate traffic. A considerable fleet of passenger ships provided frequent and popular services linking most ports between Fremantle and Cairns. Other services linked Sydney and Melbourne with Tasmanian ports. The winter cruise of those days to Queensland ports could be regarded as the equivalent of today's drive or flight north for a winter holiday at the Gold Coast or a Barrier Reef Island, or today's shorter South Pacific cruises. The first cruises from Australia to New Zealand were organised in the summer of 1934-35, and Australians were travelling to Britain for as low as $78 in tourist class in the years immediately preceding the 1939-45 War.

In the period following the 1939-45 War the advent of new and improved methods of transportation, combined with rising standards of living and the energetic publicising of foreign destinations, developed international travel into a mass-movement. New ocean liners shortened travelling time considerably, and travel by car and bus increased in many countries. Most of all, air travel became widely available, faster, safer, and cheaper. The beginning of the jet age in 1960, with larger aeroplanes carrying more than 100 passengers at speeds approximating 600 miles per hour, diminished the world by half in terms of time. Rising standards of living in the post-war period led to greater expenditure on tourism, thus making it more important to the national economy.

Australia has shared in this world-wide expansion of travel, particularly in respect of its domestic tourism. Because of the marked increase in incomes and private car ownership among large sections of the population, greater leisure time, three weeks paid annual holidays (introduced first in New South Wales in 1958) and the introduction of long-service leave, thousands of Australians now travel by road into almost every part of the Commonwealth. This has led to investment in the development of new and improved facilities, especially accommodation, of new resorts at dispersed points around Australia, and to modifications in organisation and methods of tourist administration, development and promotion. These activities in turn have had an important influence on matters such as the improvement of highways and the opening up of national parks and foreshores. A recent consequence is the first detailed study and survey of the entire Australian tourist industry, its development and its future potential.

A White Paper was produced analysing the tourist industry in Australia in 2003.^[10]

Marketing

Fitzroy Island, Queensland.

A tourist plane prepares for take-off from the Melaleuca Airstrip in the South West Wilderness of Tasmania

Australia's international tourism campaigns have focused on Australia's laid back style, such as an 1980s advertising campaign featuring actor Paul Hogan telling American tourists "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you", or its cheeky side, as in its controversial 2006 campaign in the United Kingdom using the Australian colloquialism slogan "So where the bloody hell are you?".

Tourism Australia’s “No Leave No Life” campaign was launched in March 2009 by the Federal Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Martin Ferguson AM MP. This campaign was designed to remind employees of the personal and professional benefits of taking annual leave, and of taking that leave in Australia. At 30 June 2009 there were 126 million days of stockpiled annual leave in the Australian economy.^[11] At the end of the June 2010 quarter, this number had decreased to 117 million days, following falls in the preceding three quarters.

Tourism Australia’s latest consumer campaign “There’s Nothing Like Australia” invites Australians to share their favourite Australian place or experience with the world.

The campaign is based on research conducted by Tourism Australia that showed Australians were eager to get involved in promoting their country. It was developed to involve Australians because they are the experts on what makes Australia unlike anywhere else. The core message, that ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ was designed for longevity through different mediums, audiences and activities.^[12]

Types of tourists

International tourists

Country	2000	2005	2013	2014
New Zealand	817,000	1,098,900	1,192,800	1,241,400
China	120,000	285,000	708,900	839,500
United Kingdom	580,400	708,800	657,600	652,100
United States	488,100	446,300	501,100	553,000
Singapore	285,700	266,100	339,800	372,100
Japan	721,000	685,300	324,400	326,500
Malaysia	152,100	166,000	278,100	324,500
South Korea	157,400	250,500	197,500	204,100
Hong Kong	154,100	159,500	183,500	201,600
India	n/a	n/a	168,600	196,600
Total	4,931,400	5,499,100	6,382,000	6,868,000
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[13][14][15]

Monthly visitor departures, by state where they spent the most time, since 1991. New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria are the top three states for visitor numbers.

New Zealand tourists make up a distinctive part of the Australian tourism market, usually taking short package tours which concentrate heavily on the iconic sights (typically Sydney, Uluru, Gold Coast and Cairns), and viewing Australian native animals (particularly the koala and kangaroo).^[16]

Backpackers

Another major source of tourists to Australia include backpackers, mostly young people from Western European countries (particularly Britain) and North America. Spending more time in Australia, these travelers tend to explore considerably more of the country. Many backpackers participate in working holidays enabling them to stay longer in the country. Working holiday visas for Australia are available for those aged 18 to 30 for most Western European citizens, and also citizens of Canada and some developed East Asian nations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.^[17]

Domestic tourism

The domestic tourism market is estimated at $63 billion.^[18] In 2009, the Australian domestic market experienced a 10% slump in the number of visitor nights.^[19] Domestic tourism in general and in particular free caravan and camping sites for overnight accommodation experienced strong demand in 2012.^[20]

Australians are big domestic travellers, with a profusion of seaside resort towns in every state (many located on or near good surfing beaches), mountain retreats, plentiful national parks, rivers, fishing locations, wine growing regions, as well as domestic visitation of the major tourist spots. Domestic tourism peaks during the Australian school holidays.

In 2011, a leading Australian travel agent warned that low-cost carriers such as AirAsia and Jetstar who offered cheap packages to Asia threatened the domestic tourism market.^[21]

Markets

Major attractions

Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains

Destinations

Hervey Bay is a popular tourist town with ample opportunities for whale watching, although there are plenty of other places along the Australian coastline to see whales.

Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, 2011

Australian beaches are world-renowned.

The Great Barrier Reef attracts up to two million visitors every year.^[23] Careful management, which includes permits for camping and all commercial marine tourism within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, has so far ensured that tourists have a very minimal impact on the reef.^[23] Uluru, Kakadu National Park and Fraser Island are major natural attractions. Uluru won the 2013 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards and was named Australia’s best major tourist attraction.^[24]

In December 2013, Greg Hunt, the Australian environment minister, approved a plan for dredging to create three shipping terminals as part of the construction of a coalport. According to corresponding approval documents, the process will create around 3 million cubic metres of dredged seabed that will be dumped within the Great Barrier Reef marine park area.^[25]

Sydney Opera House

Another attraction that appeals to many tourists is the Sydney Opera House. Shopping and casinos are a major drawcard for wealthy Chinese visitors.^[26] Wine, indigenous culture and nature tourism also generate travel in Australia.

Events

Major events attract a large number of tourists. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an annual event that attractions thousands of international tourists.^[27]

The 2000 Sydney Olympics resulted in significant inbound and domestic tourism to Sydney. During the games, Sydney hosted 362,000 domestic and 110,000 international visitors. In addition, up to 4 billion people watched the games worldwide.^[28] The 2003 Rugby World Cup attracted 65,000 international visitors to Australia.^[28] Schoolies Week is an annual celebration of Year 12 school leavers in late November, many of whom travel to the Gold Coast, where in 2011 they were expected to boost the economy by $60 million.^[29]

Australia’s Icons

Major Australian icons for tourists to visit include:

• Great Barrier Reef
• Red Centre
• Great Ocean Road
• Kakadu
• The Kimberley
• Kangaroo Island
• Byron Bay
• Tasmanian Wilderness
• Australian Alps
• Ningaloo
• Flinders Ranges
• Fraser Island
• Freycinet
• Gippsland
• Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Blue Mountains
• Namadgi National Park^[30]

See also

Beach of Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

• Visa policy of Australia
• List of World Heritage Sites in Australia
• Tourism in Sydney
• Tourism in Melbourne
• Tourism in Brisbane
• Tourism in Perth
• Passenger Movement Charge

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Australia.

• Information About Australian Holidays & Travel
• Tourism Australia
• Australian Tourism Statistics for 2012
• Department of Immigration & Citizenship
• Australia Travel Blogs