Spread the love
Post Views: 3

The Tourism Forecasts 2019 Report released by the Federal Government today points to the significant contribution made by tourism to the Australian economy and the importance of accommodation investment in underpinning that growth.Importantly the report shows that the industry in Gross Domestic Product terms, has grown
at a faster rate (5%) than the overall Australian economy (2.8%).

The report, the first in two years, provides a buoyant outlook for the industry over the short and long term with tourism spend forecast to increase 4.6% to $155.6 billion in 2019-20 based on the lower Australian dollar, growth from emerging Asian markets such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia and continued growth from our traditional markets of United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand.

The long-term outlook is based on continuation on current trends with steady growth from domestic visitors (3.4%) and international visitors driving the growth in spend (7.6%).

“The Accommodation Association welcomes the strong long term forecast for tourism. We are in a
period of significant global change and if we are to achieve the international visitor growth forecasts it will be vital that government continue to invest in driving demand, and in infrastructure that supports the visitor economy” said AAoA CEO, Dean Long.

The report demonstrates strong confidence in the commercial short-term accommodation sector. “With over 50,000 rooms in the pipeline, the majority in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, the sector is well placed to support visitor growth”, Mr Long said, “Importantly this supply, supports investment in jobs with 86,000 currently employed directly and more than double that in industries that supply the sector.”

“There is no doubt that the tourism industry is an important economic driver. Sustainable investment in accommodation supply will continue to be critical in underpinning that growth”.