Published Wednesday, 10 December, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Tough year for QLD tourism but new international air routes help buoy tourism figures
New international air routes into Queensland from Asia and the Middle East combined with strong marketing are helping to buoy Queensland’s foreign visitor numbers, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said today.
Ms Boyle said the latest International Visitor Survey results for the year ended September 2008 revealed that new routes and added capacity had contributed to strong growth from some regions.
“Budget airline AirAsia X and Middle Eastern carrier Etihad and Emirates expansion into Europe from Dubai contributed to big jumps in visitors from Malaysia, Singapore and Europe,” Ms Boyle said.
“The past 12 months have been tough on our tourism industry and it is no surprise Queensland, along with the rest of Australia, suffered an overall decline in international visitor numbers.
“But the good news is those who came stayed longer, spent more, and some markets, particularly those where more air capacity has been introduced, have grown significantly,” she said.
From a regional Queensland perspective, Ms Boyle said the results were something of a “mixed bag” with some destinations delivering great results, others holding their own and some struggling.
“The Whitsundays had a fantastic result after a really tough year recording 223,000 international visitors, up two percent, with the Fraser Coast South Burnett recording 204,000 international visitors, up almost 10 percent.
“Both markets largely buoyed by the backpacker market.
“Townsville also recorded good growth with 148,000 international visitors spending time in the region – six percent more than during the previous year.
“Meanwhile the Gold Coast recorded a three percent drop visitor numbers to 818,000 in the year to September 2008, while Tropical North Queensland recorded four percent fewer visitors (806,000).
“International visitors to Brisbane dropped three percent to 902,000, while Sunshine Coast visitors dropped seven percent to 271,000.
Ms Boyle said just over two million international visitors spent 39.5 million nights and $3.9 billion in Queensland in the year to September 30, 2008.
While this was an overall four percent decrease in visitor numbers, nights were up nine percent and expenditure up five percent.
“Visitors stayed an average 19 nights in the state, two nights longer than during the same period last year, and spent an average $1868 each, $161 more,” she said.
Ms Boyle said the efforts by the State Government and Tourism Queensland in encouraging international airlines to invest in new capacity into Queensland were also paying off.
The number of visitors from Malaysia for example increased 43 percent to 40,000 in the year to September 2008, while Singaporean visitors increased 21 percent to 47,000.
Additionally, visitors from Germany were up four percent to 76,000, Scandinavians up eight percent to 42,000, French visitors were up 25 percent to 35,000, Italians up four percent to 26,000 and Dutch up 14 percent to 24,000.
Visitors from other parts of Europe also increased nine percent to 86,000.
“AirAsia X’s direct flights from Kuala Lumpur into the Gold Coast have had a significant effect on the growth of the Malaysian market,” Ms Boyle said.
“While the increased capacity into Brisbane from Middle Eastern airline Etihad have contributed to the increased number of Singaporeans and the strong European network of both Etihad and Emirates have contributed to Europeans travelling to the state.
“The fact that visitors don’t have to transit through interstate airports means they can easily travel to a number of Queensland destinations and spend more time and more money in our state.”
Ms Boyle said other markets to show good growth included India, up 32 percent to 33,000 visitors and Canada, up 12 percent to 57,000 visitors.
On a less positive note, the core Japan and UK markets continued to decline, with Japanese visitor numbers falling 18 percent to 296,000 and the UK falling 14 percent to 247,000 visitors.
The New Zealand and US markets were also down slightly, recording drops of four percent (to 411,000 visitors) and three percent (to 168,000 visitors) respectively, while China dropped one percent to 148,000 visitors, largely as a result of the Beijing Olympics which saw many Chinese staying home in 2008.
“A number of factors including the global economic crisis, a high Australian dollar in the early part of the year and the effects of high fuel prices have all taken their toll on these key markets,” Ms Boyle said.
“While these results are unfortunate, they are not unexpected and the Bligh Government remains committed to these markets.
“It goes to show however just how important it is for our industry to continue to explore new opportunities.”
Ms Boyle said Tourism Queensland had undertaken a range of marketing campaigns in the UK, US and European markets as part of the State Government’s $4 million tourism assistance package, the results of which should soon start to be seen.
“While it’s too early to see the results of these campaigns, initial indicators are positive,” she said.
“The US campaigns for example, which began in September this year, saw almost $1 million in bookings and quotes achieved within their first six weeks.
“Other campaigns are currently underway in the UK and Europe and Tourism Queensland’s Japan-based team are working with airlines, Japanese travel industry, consumers and local travel media to maintain a strong market presence for Queensland product,” she said.
Detailed information for each region available upon request.
For further information:
Minister’s office - 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Tourism Queensland: 3535 5010
Ms Boyle said the latest International Visitor Survey results for the year ended September 2008 revealed that new routes and added capacity had contributed to strong growth from some regions.
“Budget airline AirAsia X and Middle Eastern carrier Etihad and Emirates expansion into Europe from Dubai contributed to big jumps in visitors from Malaysia, Singapore and Europe,” Ms Boyle said.
“The past 12 months have been tough on our tourism industry and it is no surprise Queensland, along with the rest of Australia, suffered an overall decline in international visitor numbers.
“But the good news is those who came stayed longer, spent more, and some markets, particularly those where more air capacity has been introduced, have grown significantly,” she said.
From a regional Queensland perspective, Ms Boyle said the results were something of a “mixed bag” with some destinations delivering great results, others holding their own and some struggling.
“The Whitsundays had a fantastic result after a really tough year recording 223,000 international visitors, up two percent, with the Fraser Coast South Burnett recording 204,000 international visitors, up almost 10 percent.
“Both markets largely buoyed by the backpacker market.
“Townsville also recorded good growth with 148,000 international visitors spending time in the region – six percent more than during the previous year.
“Meanwhile the Gold Coast recorded a three percent drop visitor numbers to 818,000 in the year to September 2008, while Tropical North Queensland recorded four percent fewer visitors (806,000).
“International visitors to Brisbane dropped three percent to 902,000, while Sunshine Coast visitors dropped seven percent to 271,000.
Ms Boyle said just over two million international visitors spent 39.5 million nights and $3.9 billion in Queensland in the year to September 30, 2008.
While this was an overall four percent decrease in visitor numbers, nights were up nine percent and expenditure up five percent.
“Visitors stayed an average 19 nights in the state, two nights longer than during the same period last year, and spent an average $1868 each, $161 more,” she said.
Ms Boyle said the efforts by the State Government and Tourism Queensland in encouraging international airlines to invest in new capacity into Queensland were also paying off.
The number of visitors from Malaysia for example increased 43 percent to 40,000 in the year to September 2008, while Singaporean visitors increased 21 percent to 47,000.
Additionally, visitors from Germany were up four percent to 76,000, Scandinavians up eight percent to 42,000, French visitors were up 25 percent to 35,000, Italians up four percent to 26,000 and Dutch up 14 percent to 24,000.
Visitors from other parts of Europe also increased nine percent to 86,000.
“AirAsia X’s direct flights from Kuala Lumpur into the Gold Coast have had a significant effect on the growth of the Malaysian market,” Ms Boyle said.
“While the increased capacity into Brisbane from Middle Eastern airline Etihad have contributed to the increased number of Singaporeans and the strong European network of both Etihad and Emirates have contributed to Europeans travelling to the state.
“The fact that visitors don’t have to transit through interstate airports means they can easily travel to a number of Queensland destinations and spend more time and more money in our state.”
Ms Boyle said other markets to show good growth included India, up 32 percent to 33,000 visitors and Canada, up 12 percent to 57,000 visitors.
On a less positive note, the core Japan and UK markets continued to decline, with Japanese visitor numbers falling 18 percent to 296,000 and the UK falling 14 percent to 247,000 visitors.
The New Zealand and US markets were also down slightly, recording drops of four percent (to 411,000 visitors) and three percent (to 168,000 visitors) respectively, while China dropped one percent to 148,000 visitors, largely as a result of the Beijing Olympics which saw many Chinese staying home in 2008.
“A number of factors including the global economic crisis, a high Australian dollar in the early part of the year and the effects of high fuel prices have all taken their toll on these key markets,” Ms Boyle said.
“While these results are unfortunate, they are not unexpected and the Bligh Government remains committed to these markets.
“It goes to show however just how important it is for our industry to continue to explore new opportunities.”
Ms Boyle said Tourism Queensland had undertaken a range of marketing campaigns in the UK, US and European markets as part of the State Government’s $4 million tourism assistance package, the results of which should soon start to be seen.
“While it’s too early to see the results of these campaigns, initial indicators are positive,” she said.
“The US campaigns for example, which began in September this year, saw almost $1 million in bookings and quotes achieved within their first six weeks.
“Other campaigns are currently underway in the UK and Europe and Tourism Queensland’s Japan-based team are working with airlines, Japanese travel industry, consumers and local travel media to maintain a strong market presence for Queensland product,” she said.
Detailed information for each region available upon request.
For further information:
Minister’s office - 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Tourism Queensland: 3535 5010