Published on 14/12/2016 by Punchmedia

New Key Market for Australian Tourism

South Korea has emerged as a key new market for local tourism operators as Asia's love affair with Australia continues, pushing international visitor spending to almost $40 billion in the past year, according to new figures. While the spotlight in the past few years has been on the fast-growing Chinese middle class, which recorded a 22 per cent increase in visitors to 1.1 million people, Korea (29 per cent) has emerged as the fastest-growing market and is now being targeted by tourism operators. Strong growth by China, the US, Korea and Japan has boosted overall visitors by 11 per cent to 7.4 million in the past year, spending $38.8 billion. Spending by Korean visitors has increased by 34 per cent in the past year to $1.6 billion – the fastest growth of any of Australia's top 20 tourism markets – with nights spent in the country has also increased by one-third. Increased airline capacity and targeted marketing campaigns have helped boost the inbound tourists, which have also been assisted by the lower Australian dollar. Tourism operators which have been catering for the Chinese market, are now tapping into the Korean market which accounts for about 10 per cent of the Australian tourism pie. The 255,000 visitors a year is still dwarfed by New Zealand (1.2 million), China (1.1 million), Britain (667,000), USA (648,000), Japan (365,000) and Singapore (383,000) but the pace of growth from Korean tourists has encouraged tourism boffins. The bulk of the international tourism spend was in NSW ($9.3 billion), followed by Victoria ($6.7 billion), Queensland ($5.2 billion) and Western Australia ($2.4 billion). * With AFR

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Curtis is a leading expert in the business-for-sale industry, serving as a senior content creator at anybusiness.com.au.

With a career spanning over fifteen years, Curtis has accumulated extensive knowledge in the domain of business sales, acquisitions, and valuations. His deep understanding of market dynamics and his ability to translate complex industry jargon into accessible insights make him a trusted resource for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to buy or sell businesses.

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