ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
HOW TO GROW YOUR
REGION’S SLICE OF
AUSTRALIA’S TOURISM
PIE BY LEVERAGING THE
ENABLERS OF A VIBRANT
VISITOR ECONOMY
BY SASHA LENNON AND ROGER GIBBINS
Many of Australia’s tourism icons are located in
regional Australia and the visitor economy is a pillar
of regional economic activity. Australia’s tourism
industry continues to grow as new visitor markets
emerge. In regional Australia, the visitor economy
is on an upward trajectory, with the total number of
visitors increasing on average by 3.4 per cent per
annum over the past five years.
While this is good news for Australia’s regions,
it begs the question, how can they capture a fair
share of Australia’s growing visitor economy and,
more importantly, how can they grab a bigger
slice of the pie? The answer lies in the design and
implementation of considered strategies which
focus on the enablers of a vibrant visitor economy.
AUSTRALIA’S VISITOR ECONOMY -
THE SIZE OF THE PIE
Australia’s tourism industry employs almost 925,000
people directly and indirectly, accounting for 8 per
cent of Australia’s total employment.
The size of Australia’s tourism pie is growing, and
international visitor trends suggest this will continue
into the foreseeable future, with the emergence
of new markets, particularly in Asia where the
Indian, Malaysian and Chinese middle-class is
driving much of the industry’s income growth. In
response, international airlines have expanded their
flight capacity to and from Australia on key Asian
routes, which has allowed more visitors to come to
Australia.
Over the past five years or more, historically cheap
international airfares and a weaker Australian
dollar have driven strong growth in inbound
visitor numbers. Transport providers, retailers,
accommodation providers, hospitality firms and
other tourism players have all benefited from
increased activity and spending from international
visitors.
Tourism industry revenue growth has also been
assisted by the Tourism 2020 program, which is a
Federal Government strategy to improve tourism
infrastructure and allow industry players to capitalise
on rising demand for Australian tourism. According
to IBISWorld, over the five years through to 2024,
Australia’s tourism industry revenue is expected to
increase by an annualised 2.8% to total over $154.3
billion.
While international tourism represents the fastest
growing market for industry operators, domestic
tourism still accounts for over 70% of Australia’s
tourism industry revenue, and for many parts of
regional Australia, the real opportunity to grow the
local visitor economy lies in the potential for greater
domestic visitation.
Domestic visitation to regional Australia increased
by 4.6% per annum over the five-year period to
2017 and 62% of all visitors to regional Australia
are domestic day-trippers. According to Tourism
Australia, Australian tourism isn’t just about capital
city tourism because many Australian icons and
‘bucket-list’ spots are located throughout the
regions.
The ‘grey nomad’ drive tourism phenomenon is
providing new income opportunities for many
regions throughout Australia, which are taking full
advantage of the growth in demand for drive tourism
experiences by promoting touring routes and
associated activities such as camping, ‘glamping’,
food and wine tours and walking, and providing the
facilities and services that visitors seek.
Key measures of success for regional Australia’s
drive tourism market include the number of tourists
embarking on self-drive journeys, the length of their
journeys, the time they spend in particular places
and the amount of money they spend. This market
is expected to experience significant growth due to
Australia’s ageing population and a corresponding
increase in retirees who travel around Australia.
VOL.12 NO.1 2019 | 30