Industry bodies call for greater investment in tourism marketing

A new report has highlighted the value of the hotel industry’s advocacy to government, with the research estimating that for every incremental $1m spent on international tourism marketing that up to $16m in spend is generated by foreign tourists and 89 additional jobs created.

For the hotel property sector, the $1m increase in marketing and promotional effort is estimated to increase spending on accommodation by $4.5m and create up to 55 additional jobs in the accommodation sector.

The report – Estimates of the Return on Marketing Investment for Australian Inbound Tourism – was produced by leading industry researchers, Webber Quantitative Consulting, for Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA).

The report went on to estimate that a $10m increase in the inbound marketing and promotional budget would increase visitor numbers by up to 72,500, increase tourist expenditure by between $130m to $160m, and increase the number of tourism and hospitality jobs by over 1,800.

Webber estimated that between A$36m and $45m of the increase in tourism spend would go to the accommodation sector.

In releasing the report, Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) managing director, Rodger Powell, said that the report clearly highlighted the benefits that governments can play in driving demand.

"The report shows that ‘advocacy pays’," said Powell.

"There has been considerable debate over the impact of tourism marketing and its ability to drive greater visitor numbers and foreign income, and these figures make it clear that the investment in tourism marketing has a significant direct impact on the hotel sector and an even larger benefit for the wider economy through the multiplier effect."

The need for greater investment in marketing has also been highlighted by peak national industry body Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) which says Australia is missing out on billions in additional economic benefit, following the release of new figures showing visitor spending is tracking below the bottom end of the Tourism 2020 targets.

TTF acting chief executive Trent Zimmerman said significant reform and investment was needed to help Australia achieve its goals.

"The Tourism 2020 target is to increase overnight visitor spending to between $115bn and $140bn a year by the end of the decade, but at the moment we are not even going to reach the bottom end of that range," Zimmerman said.

"A business as usual approach to tourism is simply not enough to reach the Tourism 2020 targets or for tourism to fulfil its potential as an economic development strategy for Australia.

"Additional government investment in tourism marketing is required to ensure Australia does not lose market share to countries that have not only recognised tourism’s potential to drive economic activity, create jobs and provide future prosperity, but have invested in tourism marketing and the infrastructure required to make that happen," Zimmerman added.