Tourism is the second largest industry to Australia, only behind mining. Technically, Australia is the largest service export industry. It generates $92 billion of spending from tourism, it contributes $33 billion to the economy and it provides 500,000 jobs to the Australian economy according to the Tourism Australia pamphlet. There is a worldwide fascination with Australia and it extremely important for the country to get people to stop dreaming about coming here, and actually come. I really liked Rachel Crowley’s quote that there is “a lot of romance, but not a lot of commitment” in the Australian tourism field. Tourism to the Australian economy makes it necessary for Australia to stay connected with the rest of the world to spread the word about the country and to market their brand and location. This industry hugely stimulates the Australian economy, causes them to be continually keeping up with the technological advances, add to its infrastructure, and in all ways, make Australia as efficient and effective as possible.
Currently, foreign tourists account for 38% of dollar expenditures, but Tourism Australia projects the statistic to grow to 45% by 2020. This is a very important statistic to measure for the Australian economy because it represents money coming into the country from overseas. When this statistic changes, Tourism Australia can gain insight into the success or failures of their marketing campaigns, the impact of economic or political factors, and the overall attitude toward Australia. For example, Rachel Crowley was explaining that after two assaults on Indian graduate students, the Indian media had absolutely ripped Australia apart. This factored into the dramatic decrease of Indian students that are coming to Australia for higher education.
Eco-tourism is a new section of tourism that has influenced the industry over the last ten years. So far, my experience in Australia is that they are very active in trying to lessen their environmental impact. In the course packet, there was an article describing eco tourism. This article shows that Australia is very concerned about ecologically sustainable development and has used this concept to approach to tourism. Governmental agencies, state governments, conservation groups and people in the tourism industry have created plans for ecotourism (especially in Queensland with the Great Barrier Reef), and formed groups such as the Ecotourism Association of Australia.
I was particularly intrigued with Rachel Crowley’s explanation of what tourists most do and visit when they come to Australia because she said that preferences change vastly upon their native culture. The Chinese are not as focused on nature as other groups and German tourism to Australia experiences an increase when a crocodile attack occurs, although, major cities and locations such as the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge are generally must see’s for everyone. The four top countries that are coming to Australia or New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. Tourism Australia sees’s great growth potential in tourism from the east.\
This is an aggregate demand and aggregate supply graph that helps depict the impact the economic growth and exports from Australia's stronger dollar in tourism as well as other sectors in the Australian economy such as mining, higher education and wine. As AD increases, the quantity increases. With an increasing interest rate, the Australian dollar increases as well.
Tourism Australia is located on the 17th floor of this amazing building.
With two of the most recognizable icons behind us, Leah and I had a great time walking across the Harbor Bridge this afternoon. We are similar to so many other tourists that visit both these great sites.
Enjoying the Botanical Gardens and this beautiful Eucalyptus tree.
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