In a Yahoo 7 Travelpress News report Australian Tourism Export Council Managing Director Matthew Hingerty says that despite positive growth figures, Australian tourism is lagging behind the global growth rate of 4.5%.
With latest figures showing 5.1 million international visitors came to Australia in the 2006/07 financial year that is 3% up on the previous year, behind global growth rates, with Australia also failing to lift its market share from around 1% of global travellers.
Mr Hingerty said there was good news however in that the total economic value that foreign tourists injected into the Australian economy had increased by 10% to $22 billion annually.
He added that while the ongoing investment in Tourism White Paper initiatives, in addition to Tourism Australia’s strategies to target longer-staying, higher-spending tourists are paying off, they are just one part of the mix.
Mr Hingerty is calling on the industry and the Australian Government to be more innovative and invest in developing new product and experiences, adding, “We can’t simply keep putting new marketing labels on the same product and experiences and expect visitors to keep coming or to come back.” “Nor can we continue to blame external factors such as the high Australian dollar, surge in low-cost carriers or competition from new destinations, although all of these are certainly impacting on our market share.”
He also said, “If Australia is to stand it out we need to be more innovative in areas such as targeting new markets and investing in educating and training young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who will be the future of our industry”.
“Developing health tourism, indigenous tourism and the inbound drive market, encouraging businesses to take a greater interest in the tourism education sector and reforms in areas such as tourism shopping would require limited financial investment but could reap huge rewards.”
Report by The Mole
