Business View Oceania - June 2024

VISITOR SPENDING ALSO SURGING DOWN UNDER Australia’s domestic visitors set a new record for total spending in 2023, hitting $146 billion. That’s a new high since the last record year of 2018. Similar to the travel industry’s GDP contributions in Australia, the upward trend in visitor spending is projected to continue for the coming decade until reaching $180 billion by 2034. For just 2024, domestic visitor spending is expected to amount to about $148 billion. Overseas visitation levels to Australia are also soaring, despite the fact that Australia reopened its borders later than many other destinations worldwide. For 2023, international visitor spending in the country surged 195 percent. That put Australia 10th globally for growth in international visitor spending. Last year, international visitor spending in the country amounted to $31.6 billion. The forecast for this year suggests international visitor spending will continue to increase reaching about $35 billion. And by 2025, spend from international visitors will likely hit a new record. By 2034, meanwhile, international visitor spending in Australia will amount to almost $52.5 billion. As part of the report issued by the WTTC, the global agency said Australia continues to “break records and redefine benchmarks” all of which “underscores a future filled with promise and prosperity” for the country. “With employment booming and spending by domestic visitors reaching unprecedented levels, the upcoming WTTC Global Summit in Western Australia is set to showcase a sector that’s not just rebounding, but truly thriving,” says the WTTC report. amounts to a tenth of the country’s national workforce. The industry is expected to experience a full recovery of jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of this year. By 2026,Australia’s travel industry job levels will surpass the country’s 2018 peak. Over the coming decade the sector is expected to support more than two million jobs in Australia. That would amount to about 12 percent of all Australian employment, per WTTC. 6 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 06, ISSUE 06