Tourism in Australia

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

Tourism in Australia is a large sector of the economy. In 2003/04, the tourism industry represented 3.9% of Australia's GDP at a value of approximately A$32 billion to the national economy.^[1] It should be noted that tourism's share of GDP has been slightly decreasing over recent years. 1.1% of total exports of goods and services.^[2]

Australia also received the 10th biggest revenue from being a tourist destination in 2002, 2003 and 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Trends

Cavill Avenue Mall on the Gold Coast, in Queensland during Schoolies week 2004.

At least until September 2001, tourism and particularly international tourism had grown rapidly for the past two decades.^{[citation needed]} About 4 million tourists visit Australia annually.

During 2001–2002 and 2002–2003, external events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare caused changes to the level of international visitors to Australia.^[1]

Visas

All visitors to Australia, apart from New Zealanders, require advance permission to enter the country. For most countries, a full visa is required, but holders of certain passports from some OECD and some East Asian countries are able to apply for the simpler Electronic Travel Authority which enables one to apply and be granted a visa.

Marketing

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?". The latest campaign “New York” and “Shanghai” was launched on the 8th of October 2008. The two television commercials are being rolled out in 22 countries. Eleven print advertisements, shot in every Australian State and Territory, have been produced in conjunction with DDB Worldwide. Tourism Australia’s new advertising agency. DDB will produce Tourism Australia’s next international campaign to be rolled out post-June 2009.^[3]

Types of tourists

International tourists

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

The top 10 countries for short term visits to Australia:

• New Zealand
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• United States
• China
• South Korea
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Hong Kong
• Germany

Source: ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures August 2006

Whilst the above list may include personal and business visits, a considerable proportion of these visitors would engage in tourist activities. 52% of visitors to Australia in 2005/06 visited for a holiday.^[2]

Japanese 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),^{[citation needed]} and viewing Australian native animals (particularly the koala).^[4]

Backpackers

Another major source of tourists to Australia include backpackers, mostly young people from Western European countries (particularly the United Kingdom) and North America. Spending more time in Australia, these travellers 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 Japan and South Korea.^[5]

Domestic tourism

Australians are big domestic travellers as well, 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.^{[citation needed]}

Domestic tourism peaks during the Australian school holidays.

Major events

Major events attract a large number of tourists.

Sporting

The 2003 Rugby World Cup attracted 65000 international visitors to Australia.^[6] 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.^[7]

See also

Australia portal

• Tourism in Sydney
• Tourism in Melbourne
• Tourism in Brisbane
• Tourism Australia

References

External links

• http://www.isr.gov.au/library/content_library/TourismGreenPaper.pdf
• Tourism Australia
• Come Walkabout at YouTube