Australia ready to sign a deal with China today

Friday, 02 Aug, 2006 0

Nearly 60 tourism and industry officials from China are in Australia as part of a Australia-China tourism summit in Melbourne this week and Tourism Minister Fran Bailey believes the tourism potential from China could be a significant boost to the industry in Australia, saying, “China is a golden opportunity for the Australian tourism industry, with strong growth opportunities all of which means jobs and incomes for Australians”.

Australia is set to strike a deal with China to encourage Chinese holidaymakers to visit Australia and with a population of 1.8 billion and a rapidly growing middle class, it is expected that there will be 100 million Chinese heading overseas on holidays by 2025.

Australia wants to capitalise on this huge market, and is expected to sign an agreement with China today aimed at boosting tourism between the two countries.

Currently, 285,000 Chinese tourists visit Australia each year, but that number is forecast to grow four times to 1.2 million by 2015, with China becoming Australia’s biggest tourist market, with Chinese tourism predicted to be worth $7.1 billion by 2015, up from an estimated $1.6 billion in 2007.

However, the potential is far greater, with analysts predicting the number of Chinese travelling overseas could be as great as 100 million in another 20 years.

Australia has already begun liberalising air travel to China, but demand for seats is expected to outstrip capacity in another two years and according to research from the Department of Tourism, Industry and Resources, Australia is a favoured destination for Chinese travelers, a recent report saying “It is perceived to be modern, prosperous and luxurious with a unique combination of nature and cities and that Chinese people are generally highly interested in visiting Australia at some time in the future.”

Report by The Mole

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John Alwyn-Jones

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