In an effort to further boost arrivals from Australia's most lucrative inbound market, Tourism Australia will launch a coastal and aquatic campaign in China next week.
The $40 million campaign, first launched in New York in January and being launched in China as part of Australia Week, will feature similar content to that used in the US market, but with the use of more Asian talent and an increased focus on passive aquatic and coastal experiences such as whale-watching rather than the traditional active ones such as scuba diving.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released recently showed a 5.9 per cent rise in Chinese arrivals through the month of February to 173,600. The addition of January figures saw the numbers rise by 21.1 per cent to 287,900.
In the month of February, total international arrivals rose by 10.3 per cent to 796,700. Earlier this week, the ABS reported that Australia had recorded $4.11 billion in tourism income, the highest on record.
"Tourism [had] a stunning performance in February," Australian Chamber National Tourism Council Manager, Steve Whan said one in five visitors to Australia in February came from mainland China making it a "stunning performance" for the tourism industry in a single month.
However, he warned competing nations were moving faster to simplify visa processes for Chinese travellers, Thailand last year introduced a $US36 ($47) visa on arrival for Chinese travellers that helped contribute to a 71 per cent rise in Chinese visitors to that country last year. For Australian visas, Chinese travellers need to submit a detailed application and pay $135.
Mr Whan said it was great that ministers were currently in China working to promote Australia.
"They need to build on their good work so far, by accelerating the roll out of fully online visa application processes in Mandarin," Mr Whan added.
It's not just China that is choosing Australia's sun drenched shores as its chosen destination, the number of arrivals from Japan rose by 33 per cent to 42,200. The number of arrivals from South Korea rose by 35 per cent to 28,400 while US arrivals grew by 15.2 per cent to 71,300.
Travelling the other way, the number of Australians heading overseas rose by 4.2 per cent in February to 577,600 in what is typically one of the weaker months for outbound travel. The number of Australians travelling to the US fell by 2.8 per cent to 53,000 despite recent increases in air capacity between the countries.
In contrast, there was a 6.6 per cent rise in Australians heading to New Zealand, a 12.4 per cent rise in departures for Indonesia and a 26.9 per cent rise for Japan.
International Travel Trends
The Tourism industry has benefited substantially from a
strong rise in international visitors over the past five years. A decade ago, the largest sources of international arrivals for the industry were New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States.
While visitors from these countries comprise the majority of international arrivals in 2015-16 according to TRA, there has been strong growth in arrivals from Asia, particularly China, Malaysia and Indonesia. China is now Australia’s second biggest source of international visitors, after New Zealand.
This growth has been caused by rising middle class wealth in China, which has allowed Chinese visitors to spend more money on discretionary activities like travel. TRA also estimates Chinese visitors to have the largest tourism expenditure of any international market.
This large expenditure is due to their length of stay, which averages more than 40 nights. Continued growth in international arrivals and visitor nights is forecast to contribute to industry revenue growth of 3.9% in 2015-16.
