Published Wednesday, 10 September, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Minister Boyle releases latest international visitor figures today
The latest international visitor figures have revealed a 2.8 percent decline in Queensland’s visitor numbers.
There is good news for the future however with strong growth from the emerging markets of China, India and Malaysia, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said today.
“There’s no doubt that Queensland’s tourism industry is in the middle of a very difficult period with a slowing global economy, a strong AUD, record fuel prices and competition from other destinations all affecting international travel to our state,” she said.
“While overall visitor numbers are down, including our leading Japanese and UK markets, which declined 16 and 11 percent respectively to 312,000 and 256,000 visitors, these results are not unexpected.
“Queensland’s fourth largest market, the United States, has declined six percent to 167,000 visitors – attributable in part to a loss of consumer confidence following the US credit crunch.“
Ms Boyle said while the latest figures revealed international visitors to Tropical North Queensland had decreased by two percent, China and New Zealand markets were performing well.
“Last financial year 54,000 Chinese visited Tropical North Queensland – up 54 percent on the year before,” Ms Boyle said.
‘Some 93 percent of these were holidaymakers getting to the region despite the fact there was no scheduled direct air access from China into Queensland.
“This makes it clear the Chinese see Tropical North Queensland as a highly desirable destination and these figures will help underline our case for direct flights from mainland China to Queensland in future talks with airlines.”
Ms Boyle said New Zealand visitors had also increased by 16 percent to 43,000, Indian visitors increased by 33 percent to 12,000 and European visitors had increased by six percent to 51,000.
All up, international visitors spent just over $1 billion in the region.
Ms Boyle said the Japanese market, which was the destination’s largest, continued to decline, dropping 12 percent to 188,000.
The UK market had also dropped 10 percent to 141,000.
“The Japanese market continues to decline for a range of reasons including increased competition from other destinations, a downturn in the Japanese economy and the value of the Yen to the AUD, while competition from cheap European and Asian destinations are biting into our share of the UK market,” Ms Boyle said.
“Declines in both of these markets were no surprise but are lower than the state average of 16 percent for Japan and 11% for the UK.
“These are tough times for all in the tourism industry with international visitor numbers to Australia remaining flat and most states recording decreases in many of their core markets.
“Tourism Queensland and the State Government are committed to assisting our industry through a range of initiatives such as the State Government’s $4 million tourism assistance package, a significant proportion of which has been dedicated to attracting international airlines and in developing international marketing activities.”
IVS Year Ended June 2008 – TNQ Snapshot:
Total international visitors: 825,000, down 2%
Total international visitor nights: 6.3 million, down 8%
Average length of stay: 7.6 nights, down 0.6 nights
International holiday visitors: 751,000, down 2%
Total international expenditure: $1.03 billion, down 5%
Spend per visitor: $1249, down 3%
Spend per night: $116, up 3%
Ends
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Minister’s office: Kirstie Maier 3225 1005 or 0448 13 195
Tourism Queensland: Danielle Koopman 3535 5588 or 0424 151 684.
10 September 2008
There is good news for the future however with strong growth from the emerging markets of China, India and Malaysia, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said today.
“There’s no doubt that Queensland’s tourism industry is in the middle of a very difficult period with a slowing global economy, a strong AUD, record fuel prices and competition from other destinations all affecting international travel to our state,” she said.
“While overall visitor numbers are down, including our leading Japanese and UK markets, which declined 16 and 11 percent respectively to 312,000 and 256,000 visitors, these results are not unexpected.
“Queensland’s fourth largest market, the United States, has declined six percent to 167,000 visitors – attributable in part to a loss of consumer confidence following the US credit crunch.“
Ms Boyle said while the latest figures revealed international visitors to Tropical North Queensland had decreased by two percent, China and New Zealand markets were performing well.
“Last financial year 54,000 Chinese visited Tropical North Queensland – up 54 percent on the year before,” Ms Boyle said.
‘Some 93 percent of these were holidaymakers getting to the region despite the fact there was no scheduled direct air access from China into Queensland.
“This makes it clear the Chinese see Tropical North Queensland as a highly desirable destination and these figures will help underline our case for direct flights from mainland China to Queensland in future talks with airlines.”
Ms Boyle said New Zealand visitors had also increased by 16 percent to 43,000, Indian visitors increased by 33 percent to 12,000 and European visitors had increased by six percent to 51,000.
All up, international visitors spent just over $1 billion in the region.
Ms Boyle said the Japanese market, which was the destination’s largest, continued to decline, dropping 12 percent to 188,000.
The UK market had also dropped 10 percent to 141,000.
“The Japanese market continues to decline for a range of reasons including increased competition from other destinations, a downturn in the Japanese economy and the value of the Yen to the AUD, while competition from cheap European and Asian destinations are biting into our share of the UK market,” Ms Boyle said.
“Declines in both of these markets were no surprise but are lower than the state average of 16 percent for Japan and 11% for the UK.
“These are tough times for all in the tourism industry with international visitor numbers to Australia remaining flat and most states recording decreases in many of their core markets.
“Tourism Queensland and the State Government are committed to assisting our industry through a range of initiatives such as the State Government’s $4 million tourism assistance package, a significant proportion of which has been dedicated to attracting international airlines and in developing international marketing activities.”
IVS Year Ended June 2008 – TNQ Snapshot:
Total international visitors: 825,000, down 2%
Total international visitor nights: 6.3 million, down 8%
Average length of stay: 7.6 nights, down 0.6 nights
International holiday visitors: 751,000, down 2%
Total international expenditure: $1.03 billion, down 5%
Spend per visitor: $1249, down 3%
Spend per night: $116, up 3%
Ends
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Minister’s office: Kirstie Maier 3225 1005 or 0448 13 195
Tourism Queensland: Danielle Koopman 3535 5588 or 0424 151 684.
10 September 2008