The strong Australian dollar has failed to scare off visitors and they keep heading to Australia. That’s the message from Australian Bureau of Statistics data for September, released yesterday, which shows that short-term arrivals are matching the same month last year. They are close to the all-time record set last October.
Comparing Septembers over the past decade, you can track the trend arrivals building:
Sept 01 403,600
Sept 02 405,100
Sept 03 425,000
Sept 04 439,500
Sept 05 458,900
Sept 06 462,500
Sept 07 471,700
Sept 08 454,700
Sept 09 466,300
Sept 10 500,200
Sept 11 500,600
For the year to September, the ABS trend series shows 5,898,400 visitor arrivals, up 87,600 on the previous year and quite healthy. That’s despite a dollar riding high against most major currencies in the world, making Australia a more expensive place to visit, comparatively, than it was last year.
ABS trend estimates for arrivals show that short-term visitor arrivals during September 2011 (500,600 movements) increased 1.1% compared with August 2011 (495,400 movements). This followed monthly increases of 1.0% in July 2011 and 1.1% in August 2011. The current trend estimate for arrivals is 0.1% higher than in September 2010.
When trend estimates for short-term visitor arrivals for September 2010 and September 2011 were compared, the highest percentage increase was recorded for China (22.9%). The highest percentage decrease was recorded for Japan (16.3%) followed by the US (10.6%).
When seasonally adjusted, short-term visitor arrivals (481,500 movements) recorded a decrease of 4.1% compared with August 2011 (501,900 movements). This followed monthly increases of 2.5% in July 2011 and 2.7% in August 2011. ABS original estimates: There were 432,200 short-term visitor arrivals to Australia in September 2011.
ABS trend estimates for departures show that short-term resident departures during September 2011 (665,100 movements) increased 0.3% compared with August 2011 (663,100 movements). This followed monthly increases of 0.8% in July 2011 and 0.5% in August 2011. The current trend estimate for departures is 10.2% higher than in September 2010.
When seasonally adjusted, estimates for September 2011 show short-term resident departures (663,500 movements) increasing by 0.3% compared with August 2011 (661,500 movements). This followed monthly increases of 3.2% in July 2011 and 0.3% in August 2011. ABS original estimates: There were 790,600 short-term resident departures from Australia during September 2011.
The figures indicate that travel is healthy in both directions.
New Zealand remains Australia’s biggest source of tourists and biggest tourist destination. New Zealand held that position on the arrivals front (trend estimates) in September, followed by (in order) Britain, China, USA and Japan.
Following New Zealand on the departures front in September on the same basis were (in order): USA, Britain, Indonesia and Thailand.
Written by : Peter Needham
(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au)
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