The Australian tourism industry is shifting its focus from overseas to domestic travelers as the global economic crisis battered the consumer confidence.
According to Geoff Buckley, Managing Director of Tourism Australia, the country’s tourism industry will focus on domestic travel promotions in 2009 in wake of declining number of overseas travelers, as reported by Adelaidenow.
Buckley further says that 2010 is expected to be better year in terms of domestic tourist arrivals with overnight trips to rise by 2% to 73.2 Million and night trips to increase by 1% to 275.8 Million. The tourist receipts are likely to increase by 1.6% to $68 Billion next year. However, the overseas tourist arrivals are expected to decline as the projections for forward booking for next year have fallen nearly 15%. International tourist arrivals are also forecasted to tumble this year by 4.1% due to the global financial crunch.
The worldwide financial crunch has severely hit the consumer sentiments to travel. Australia is also striving hard for its share of tourists’ dollar at such a critical time when travelers are postponing their visits.
The Australian domestic tourism accounts for a significant share of total tourism revenue. Therefore, the industry must ensure that the growth will continue in the domestic market. The Australian Tourism Board is promoting domestic tourism to bring the industry back on track. Moreover, Australians will continue to prefer inland tourist destinations for vacations next year.
According to a government study, oversupply of marine tourism operations and accommodations could be used to keep visitors for longer time in the region. The study has also found that the government and industry should divert focus to new markets such as sports, medicine, newlyweds and indigenous tourism for increasing the flow of visitors in the country.
As per a Senior Research Analyst at RNCOS, “While the global economic meltdown caused Australians to restrain their domestic holiday tours, it also raised the dormant demand for leisure breaks. In addition, the Australian government is all set to launch a new advertising campaign to promote domestic tourism. The best way to bring the industry back on track is to target family and youth markets. Selling tour packages to families means offering a known cost, while selling to adolescents means offering cheap cost.”
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