Australian Chamber – Tourism welcomes today’s release of the National Visitor Survey (NVS), confirming tourism’s place as a key growth area of the economy.
“As the peak body for Australian businesses engaged in the visitor economy, we are incredibly heartened by today’s NVS results, Executive Chair of Australian Chamber – Tourism, John Hart said today.
“We have repeatedly said that tourism is the unsung hero of the Australian economy, and we’ve once again been proven right.
“We are pleased Australians are choosing to holiday in Australia. Be it a beach holiday, a trip to the snow or a weekend drive up to a local winery, Australians have long known just how great our regions are to visit. Now we need more international visitors to visit regional Australia and spread the local economic benefits tourism provides.
‘‘What we haven’t seen is the benefits in international visitors getting to see our regions. We need Governments to step up to the plate and invest more in regional infrastructure to help more international tourists to visit our regions and address the imbalance.
“For example, the National Visitor Survey and the International Visitor Survey released two weeks ago shows that in New South Wales, 51 per cent of tourism spend in Sydney comes from international visitors, but in regional New South Wales 93 per cent of tourism spend comes from domestic visitors.
“Improved infrastructure and access to our regions will make significant progress towards increasing the number of international visitors to the regions, as well as the overall number of visitors.
“It is also that case that, in real terms, the funding for Tourism Australia is down – this must be restored, Mr Hart said.
“There is always more that can be done to produce even better figures.
“The Australian Chamber believes regional tourism has enormous potential for future growth – if we get the policy settings and the investment right.”