China’s tourists a desirable export

dbata had some interaction with Austrade recently and it was interesting to discover where their priorities lie under the Coalition government. Apart from Trade Minister Andrew Robb cracking the whip on everything to do with free trade agreements the emphasis at Austrade is on investment, investment and investment.

And where do they want this investment targetted? Well its’s a long way from the traditional sectors of mineral resources and manufactured goods. It’s in healthcare, education, tourism and of course infrastructure. These are all categories that are capturing most attention from our Asian neighbours.

I was quite surprised to hear tourism in the mix as I always thought that was the domain of the Australian Tourism Commission, but nowadays the ATC helps sell the product and Austrade helps fund the product.

It’s easy to see why? Figures this week on Chinese tourism confirm its export potential. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics just over one million tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong visited Australia in the past year. That number has effectively trebled in the past decade, more importantly doubled in the past four years. It is now growing at 14 per cent a year. If current growth is maintained it will surpass New Zealand as our No.1 tourist centre in about five years.

However, before everyone starts congratulating themselves it’s just not Australia that the increasing mobile Chinese are targeting, as the Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond told Melbourne’s Herald Sun: “So far this year, the number of Chinese tourists going to Canada has grown by more than 30 per cent while the US has seen growth of 23 per cent.” While growth here is solid, “We are missing a massive opportunity,” she concluded.

Osmond lay the blame at the feet of the bureaucracy, saying that despite significant investments from government agencies it was still too difficult and expensive for potential Chinese visitors to get a visa compared with tourists coming from the United States or the UK. Another challenge for Austrade?

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