The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures for March, which contained mixed fortunes for the tourism industry.
While short-term visitor arrivals increased by 1.9% over the month in seasonally adjusted terms, short-term resident departures rose by more, increasing by 3.0%.
In the 12 months to March 2012, the annual number of depatures increased by 10.0% relative to the corresponding period of the prior year, whereas arrivals rose by a more subdued 0.6%.
Taking a longer-term view, the ratio of annual tourism arrivals to departures has plummed a new 25-year low (see below chart). Little wonder the domestic tourism industry is hurting!
And as suggested above, the fall in the ratio of arrivals to departures has been caused predominantly by an exodus of Australians choosing to travel abroad rather than domestically:
In the year to March 2012, 7.9 million Australians holidayed overseas – more than double the level of 10 years ago (3.4 million). This compares to only 5.9m tourist arrivals over the same period (4.8 million 10 years ago).
South East Asia (particularly Indonesia and Thailand) remains Australia’s favourite holiday destination, receiving 32% of Australia’s departures in March 2012. This was followed by Oceania (21%), the Americas (13%), North East Asia (11%) and North West Europe (11%):
As usual, the Aussie bogan’s penchant for Bali and Thailand, in particular, is driving much of the decline in Australian tourism:
By contrast, the most foreign visitors to Australia came from Oceania (mostly New Zealand) and North East Asia, which each accounted for 23% of arrivals in March 2012. This was followed by North Western Europeans (19%) and South East Asians (15%):
With the Aussie dollar seemingly in a downtrend, thereby pushing-up the cost of overseas travel and making Australia a cheaper holiday destination, there is the prospect that the Australian tourism industry could receive some respite over coming months.
