Australia expect to have record number of tourists in 2019
Photo Courtesy: thefabulousscript.com
Australia is expected to have around 10 million foreign tourists in the year 2019. As per data analysis, the foreign tourist inflow is pointing towards a record number of guests in 2019, which spells good news for the economy and employment generation.
Bessie Hassan from comparison website ‘finder.com.au’ said Australia is taking an ever-greater share of the global market, with arrivals rapidly growing over the past several years.
“It is likely we will welcome more than 10 million overseas guests for the first time this year,” said Hassan
“International tourists are pouring into the country, which is really exciting because tourism is great for the economy,” she added.
Great Barrier Reef
More tourists in the country mean more hotel stays, more meals in restaurants, more items sold in stores, all together will contribute to more jobs and boost to the economy, opines Hassan.
Contribution of the tourism sector to the country’s economy is around $55 billion each year and one in 13 Australians is said to be employed in the industry. Not only big cities are benefited by tourist inflow; for every dollar spent by tourists, 43 cents is in regional areas.
Chinese tops the list of foreign tourists to Australia, with 1.08 million tourists during the last 12 months. New Zealand bags the second position with 1.03 million.
“There are also lots of Asian countries accounting for the increase, including Singapore and Japan, which makes sense given our proximity to the region,” said Hassan
Uluru
There are appealing natural assets like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru, above all Australia is considered to be safe country for tourists. “All of this plays a part in the ramp-up in tourism numbers,” opined Hassan.
Tourism Australia said there were a total of 9.2 million international visitors in the year ending October 2018, representing an increase of 5.2 per cent on the previous year. In all over the past five years, overseas visitor numbers have boomed by 44 per cent.
As per statistics, China not only tops the number of tourist visits, but also the amounts spent in the country. Trip spend from China was more than three times that of the US.
Last month, tourism operators were gearing up for their biggest December ever with visitor numbers expected to top 800,000 over the festive period.
And while government advertising campaigns abroad remain important, Hassan said happy tourists are also helping to spread the word.
“Technology makes this easier because there’s no better way to showcase the country than by visitors sharing their experiences first-hand on social media,” added Hassan.