Skift Take
After years of phenomenal growth, Chinese inbound tourism has hit the wall in Australia. It’s a pivotal moment for an industry that has enjoyed a golden run over the past decade. The question now is what does the future hold for Australia’s international tourism industry? For now, the answer is far from clear.
Everyone knew it couldn’t last forever. Australia’s Chinese tourism boom is officially over after a decade of incredible growth, leaving new uncertain times ahead thanks to China’s slowing economy, increasing hotel supply Down Under, and the topsy-turvy world of global geopolitics.
Aside from the slowing China economy which is affecting its huge outbound travel market, visa issues have also been blamed for the shrinking growth, as well as the multitude of choices Chinese travelers now have as destinations ease entry rules for them.
New figures from the Australian Bureau Statistics shows total inbound growth from China of less than 1 percent for the financial year ending June 30, 2019, over the same period in 2018. At the same time, Tourism Research Australia says China leisure visitors to Australia fell 1.3 percent in the same period following a bullish 13 percent increase the year before.
It’s clear the market has come to a screeching halt after 10 years of phenomenal growth, 16.5 percent a year for the past 10 years, says the research body, propelling Chinese tourism numbers to 1.037 million a year, from just 227,000 a decade ago.
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