US ECONOMY TO IMPACT ON AMERICANS TRAVELLING DOWN UNDER

Inbound travel from the Americas region would continue to grow despite some economic uncertainty in the key markets according to Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) Regional Director, The Americas Ms Lyndel Gray.

Speaking at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), Australia’s premier trade show, Ms Gray said the stability of the US economy and the maintenance of consumer confidence would be vital to outbound travel over the next twelve to eighteen months.

“Right now, the most important influence on tourism is Alan Greenspan,” Ms Gray said.

“The key indicators point to a slowing economy. Its projected that overall economic growth will slow from the peak GDP level of 5.1 per cent to around 3.2 per cent this year. And while real incomes are predicted to increase across the US, it is expected that spending will moderate.”

Ms Gray said that in this climate the Australian Tourist Commission’s task was clear.

“We will focus on sending the message that Australia is an excellent value vacation destination,” she said. “While the strength of the greenback makes Australia even better value that ever before, the weakness of European currencies and the popularity of destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean mean competition for the US travel dollar is fierce.

“Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji, Paris, London and Belgium all have packages in the market right now offering air and accommodation packages for 6 to 8 days for less than US$1000.

“The Australian industry and airlines are fighting hard with excellent value deals and they are getting results. Indeed growth into Australia is forecast to outpace overall outbound travel growth from the US.

“So its clear we’re getting it right but we must keep our eyes on the ball and concentrate on converting Australia’s high and overwhelmingly positive profile into actual bookings.”

Ms Gray said the longer term challenge for Australia was to deal effectively with tightening vacation time constraints for Americans.


“Americans may have more money to spend than ever before but they don’t have the time to spend it,” she said. “United Nations data reveals Canadian workers enjoy three times more leisure time than America workers, and European workers almost four times.

“Therefore the ATC’s strategies are becoming more focused on positioning Australia as an accessible, realistic, two-week vacation option rather than the ‘trip of a lifetime’.”

Overall, visitor arrivals from the Americas increased by 16.9 per cent in 2000 with a total 616,900 visitors to Australia including 482,200 visitors from the US (up 15.6 per cent); 89,300 from Canada (up 13.9 per cent) and 45,400 from Latin America (up 44.1 per cent).

Visitor arrivals to Australia this year indicates continued growth with 215,400 visitors in the four months to April 2001, up 8.8 per cent increase compared to the same time in 2000.

Ms Gray said the Commission’s close relationship with the retail travel trade would be critically important over the coming years.

“Australia has long been a leader in terms of retail trade support in North America and we’re not about to let that position slip. Our ‘Aussie Specialist’ travel agent program was one of the first of its kind in this market and remains a benchmark for other countries.

“From the beginning of July we will be shifting our personalised information support for agents from the Aussie Helpline telephone service to an online one.

“We believe this will enable us to provide even more of travel agents with one-on-one assistance with itineraries, destinational information and advice. And most importantly we can deliver even more comprehensive information via email than over the telephone.

The Canadian and Latin American markets were also expected to show continued growth, Ms Gray said.

“The Canadian economy appears to be holding quite firm and our growth from this market has been excellent in recent times,” she said.

“It’s a mixed picture in Latin America with the Brazilian economy looking very healthy but Argentina less robust.”