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Reopening to tourists and other international travellers to secure our economic recovery

Joint media release with the hon. scott morrison mp, the hon. greg hunt mp and the hon. dan tehan mp.

Australia will reopen to all fully vaccinated visa holders, welcoming the return of tourists, business travellers, and other visitors from 21 February.  

These changes will ensure we protect the health of Australians, while we continue to secure our economic recovery. 

Australia’s health system has demonstrated its resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including though the recent Omicron wave. With improving health conditions, including a recent 23 per cent decline in hospitalisations due to COVID, the National Security Committee of Cabinet today agreed Australia is ready to further progress the staged reopening of our international border. 

Visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a valid travel exemption to enter Australia, and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements. 

Today’s announcement will give certainty to our vital tourism industry, and allow them to start planning, hiring and preparing for our reopening. In 2018-19, tourism generated more than $60 billion for the Australian economy, with more than 660,000 jobs dependent on the industry. 

Since the Morrison Government commenced Australia’s staged international border reopening on 1 November 2021 we have seen almost 580,000 arrivals come to Australia including to reunite with loved ones, work or study. 

The Commonwealth continues to work with States and Territories on the safe resumption of the cruise industry and looks forward to further announcements on this in due course.

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Bulletin – December 2022 Australian Economy The Recovery in the Australian Tourism Industry

8 December 2022

Angelina Bruno, Kathryn Davis and Andrew Staib [*]

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The Australian tourism industry is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic that brought global travel to an unprecedented standstill. International tourism fell sharply in early 2020 and has only slowly recovered since restrictions were lifted in the first half of this year. By contrast, domestic tourism spending bounced back quickly as local restrictions eased and is now above pre-pandemic levels. This article outlines the recovery in the Australian tourism industry following the pandemic, the challenges the industry has faced in reopening, and the uncertainties around the outlook for the tourism industry over the next few years.

Introduction

Restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 and precautionary behaviour by consumers significantly disrupted the movement of people both domestically and internationally during the pandemic period. This had a devastating impact on many Australian businesses that provided services to domestic or international tourists. Nevertheless, many of these businesses have shown considerable resilience and flexibility, aided by a range of government support packages, and are now expanding to service the recovery.

This article presents a snapshot of the tourism industry through the pandemic, before focusing on the recovery over the past year. While international tourism is recovering only slowly, domestic tourism spending has rebounded strongly – to above pre-pandemic levels – as many Australians have chosen to take domestic rather than overseas holidays. The article draws on information from the Bank’s regional and industry liaison program to discuss the challenges the tourism industry has faced in meeting this sudden increase in demand, and the outlook for tourism activity over the next few years. Many tourism businesses have found it difficult to quickly scale up to meet demand, and these supply constraints have limited tourism activity and led to higher prices. Looking ahead, a continued recovery in tourism activity is expected as supply-side issues are gradually resolved and international tourism picks up further. However, there are a number of uncertainties around the timing and extent of this recovery.

International tourism

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp drop in international tourism, as governments around the world implemented travel and border restrictions (Graph 1). In April 2020, international tourism arrivals declined globally by around 90 per cent and Australia’s international tourist arrivals effectively came to a standstill for several months.

The timing and extent of the recovery in international tourism has been uneven across the world, as national governments removed restrictions at a different pace. Globally, international tourism arrivals picked up to be around three-quarters of their pre-pandemic levels by September 2022. In Australia, international tourist arrivals rose slightly in mid-2021 under the temporary operation of the Australia–New Zealand travel bubble, and also in November 2021 as border restrictions eased in some parts of the country. However, it wasn’t until February 2022 – when Australia removed border restrictions for vaccinated persons – that arrivals began to substantially pick up. Since July 2022, people have been able to travel to and from Australia without being required to declare their vaccination status.

Short-term overseas arrivals to Australia (which include tourists but also those visiting for less than 12 months for business, education and employment purposes) picked up to be around half of pre-pandemic levels by September 2022 (Graph 2). However, short-term departures of Australian residents have picked up more quickly than short-term arrivals of overseas visitors, and so the net outflow of travellers has been larger than pre-pandemic levels in recent months.

Reasons for travel

The recovery in short-term travel to and from Australia has been particularly pronounced among those visiting friends and relatives (VFR) (Graph 3). VFR accounted for just over half of all international visitors’ spending over the year to June 2022, whereas it accounted for just under one-fifth in 2019 (Table 1). Short-term travel for business and education purposes has also picked up. However, the recovery in outbound business travel (including conventions and conferences) has outpaced inbound business travel, with relatively few major business events held in Australia in 2022. Short-term travel for employment reasons has almost fully recovered to its 2019 levels. By contrast, the number of visitors arriving in Australia for holidays has picked up only slightly, to be around one-third of its pre-pandemic level (holiday visitors accounted for only 10 per cent of international visitor spending over the year to June 2022, compared to nearly 40 per cent in 2019).

Working holiday makers and international students who are in Australia for more than a year are not included in the short-term arrivals data, but they make a significant contribution to tourism spending. According to Hall and Godfrey (2019), visitors who state the main purpose of their trip as education stay longer and spend more than leisure and business tourists. International students and individuals on working holiday visas have a high propensity to travel within Australia, and often their friends and relatives come to visit. The number of international students and working holiday visa holders in Australia has risen to be around two-thirds and one-half of their pre-pandemic levels in the September quarter of 2022, respectively.

The recovery in international visitors to Australia has been uneven across source countries, reflecting both travel restrictions and the quicker recovery in VFR relative to other types of travel (Graph 4). The recovery in the number of visitors from India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom has been faster than for other countries, possibly due to the close relationships residents from those countries have with Australian residents (in the 2021 Census, England and India were the top two countries of birth for Australian residents, other than Australia). While there has been a notable pick-up in people from India visiting friends and relatives, there has also been a pronounced recovery in the number of Indian students coming to Australia. By contrast, the number of Chinese visitors remains more than 90 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, due to ongoing travel restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 in China. This is significant for the Australian tourism sector as, prior to the pandemic, Chinese visitors were the largest source of tourist spending and contributed around 20 per cent of total leisure travel exports in 2019 (or nearly 30 per cent if education-related travel is included).

Domestic tourism

Domestic tourism activity was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the introduction of strict restrictions on household mobility (‘lockdowns’) across the country in March 2020 (Graph 5). At the same time, a number of states and territories implemented interstate border restrictions and quarantine arrangements. As a result, domestic tourist visitor numbers declined sharply. By April 2020, domestic tourist numbers were less than 20 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

The first lockdown ended for most parts of the country by the end of May 2020, although some restrictions on household activity and state border closures remained in place for an extended period of time. Melbourne re-entered lockdown for much of the second half of 2020. By the end of that year, however, a number of states and territories had eased restrictions and reopened domestic borders, allowing domestic visitor numbers to recover to around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels over the 2020/21  summer and the 2021 Easter holidays (Graph 6).

A third major disruption emerged in mid-2021, as a sharp rise in the number of Delta-variant cases led to the reintroduction of lockdowns in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. Around half of the Australian population were under significant restrictions for most of the September quarter of 2021 and domestic visitor numbers declined to around 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Domestic tourism numbers rebounded again during the 2021/22  summer holidays as health restrictions eased once more, but not to the levels of the previous year; the Omicron outbreak in early 2022 tempered activity somewhat. As concerns about Omicron abated, domestic visitor numbers again recovered, and have been around 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels since Easter 2022.

While domestic visitor numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels, total domestic tourism spending and the average spend per visitor have been above pre-pandemic levels since March 2022. Some liaison contacts report that domestic travellers are staying longer than they did before the pandemic and spending patterns have become more like those on overseas holidays, with domestic tourists spending more on tours and experiences to explore Australia. This higher spending also reflects an increase in domestic travel prices (see below).

The recovery in domestic tourism spending in 2022, to around or above pre-pandemic levels, is evident in all states and territories (Graph 7). Naturally, states that experienced longer and stricter COVID-19 restrictions had much more significant declines in tourism activity over 2020 and 2021. Western Australia experienced the least disruption to the tourism industry, partly due to having fewer restrictions on movement, but also because the closed state border meant that more Western Australians were holidaying in their own state. In recent months, the Northern Territory and Queensland have been the recipients of domestic tourism spending well above 2019 levels, perhaps because these travel destinations are regarded as closer substitutes for overseas holidays.

Travel to regional areas recovered more quickly and fully than travel to capital cities (Graph 8). Regional areas were less affected by lockdowns and liaison suggests that travellers preferred to avoid more densely populated areas. There was also a shift towards driving holidays, which has greatly benefited regions within two to three hours’ drive from capital cities.

Challenges in reopening the Australian tourism industry

While pandemic-related declines in domestic and international tourism weighed heavily on the Australian tourism industry, many businesses have proved resilient and have experienced a strong rebound in demand from domestic tourists in recent months. Nevertheless, many businesses have found it difficult to scale up to meet this demand, and supply constraints have acted to limit tourism activity and led to higher prices.

In 2022, the biggest constraint on the recovery in tourism activity has been difficulty finding sufficient labour to service tourism demand. The tourism industry lost a large number of experienced staff during the pandemic – and so when domestic tourism recovered, the sector had to rapidly hire workers in a tight labour market. Online advertisements for tourism jobs rose to record highs by mid-2022 (Graph 9). These jobs have been difficult to fill. Liaison contacts have suggested that many of the Australians who had worked in the tourism industry prior to the pandemic have since found jobs in other industries. Moreover, many tourism-related jobs had previously been filled by international students and, particularly in regional locations, working holiday makers – many of whom left Australia during the pandemic and have been slow to return. On top of the difficulties in attracting and retaining staff, illness-related absenteeism has been elevated more broadly through 2022.

Tourism businesses in many regional areas have had additional difficulties attracting staff, partly due to a shortage of housing. An increase in net migration to these areas has contributed to very low rental vacancy rates in many popular tourist areas. In response, some holiday accommodation providers have resorted to housing their own staff.

There have also been some changes in consumer behaviour resulting from the pandemic that have made it harder for tourism businesses to plan and have sufficient staff available to meet demand. Trends such as increased working from home and a reduction in business-related day trips have created a larger gap between peak and off-peak periods for many tourism businesses. There are also sharper peaks and troughs in demand because there are fewer international tourists, who often travel at different times to domestic travellers (e.g. filling accommodation mid-week and outside school holidays). Booking lead times substantially shortened during the pandemic, though there is some evidence that perhaps these are lengthening out again. Nevertheless, booking lead times have always been shorter for domestic travel than international travel, so the change in the composition of travellers has made it more difficult for tourism businesses to plan ahead.

While labour has been a constraint across most of the tourism industry, a lack of capital equipment has been an additional constraint for some businesses. Many tourism-related businesses sold off or retired vehicles, boats, aircraft and other equipment during the pandemic when they could not operate and were in need of cash (Grozinger and Parsons 2020). The sudden and stronger-than-anticipated recovery in domestic tourism in 2022, combined with supply chain issues delaying the manufacture and delivery of new equipment and vehicles, has meant that many businesses did not have the capital equipment they need to service the increase in demand.

These supply-side constraints (in both labour and capital) have limited the tourism industry’s ability to ramp up to meet demand. Liaison suggests many tourism operators are operating below their previous capacity – for example, many have had to limit their operating hours because of lack of staff, and some accommodation providers have not been able to offer all their rooms for booking as they do not have enough staff to service them. Labour shortages and supply chain delays have also weighed on aviation capacity and contributed to a decline in domestic airlines ‘on-time performance’ over 2022 (Graph 10).

Similar constraints are also weighing on the recovery in international tourism. Contacts suggest that the recovery has been held back by limited flight availability, the higher cost of travel insurance and, in many cases, the higher cost of flights. Liaison contacts have indicated that delays in visa issuance in 2022 have also been a barrier for those seeking to travel to Australia. Over the past few months, however, visa processing times have shortened somewhat, and visa processing for applicants located overseas – including applicants for visitor, student and temporary skilled visas – have been given higher priority to allow more people to travel to Australia (Department of Home Affairs 2022).

The supply-side constraints in the tourism industry, combined with a strong pick-up in domestic demand and the higher cost of inputs such as fuel, have led to a sharp increase in domestic travel prices (Graph 11). Liaison contacts suggest that consumers have been relatively accepting of price rises for services essential to travel, such as accommodation. However, smaller operators – particularly in highly discretionary services, such as tours – have had less scope to increase their prices, and their margins have been squeezed by the higher costs of inputs such as food, fuel, energy and insurance costs. Prices for overseas travel have also increased significantly in recent quarters, as demand for flights has outstripped capacity, alongside rising jet fuel costs and increases in prices for international tours (ABS 2022).

The outlook

Looking ahead, tourism activity is expected to continue to recover as supply-side issues are slowly resolved and international tourism picks up further. Most liaison contacts suggest a full recovery will not occur until at least mid-2023; many expect it to take a few more years. There are a number of factors that will affect the timing and extent of the ongoing recovery in tourism, including:

• The easing of supply-side constraints : It is unclear how long it may take for some of the supply-side constraints in the industry to ease, including whether planned changes in flight availability will be sufficient to meet changes in demand, and whether the sector will be able to fill more job vacancies over time and as migration returns.
• The return of international students and working holiday visas : Many people have recently had working holiday visas approved and are expected to arrive over the coming year. Liaison contacts also expect international student numbers to increase over the next few years. The return of working holiday and student visa holders will increase demand for tourism services, and will likely alleviate labour shortages as they take jobs in the sector.
• Australians’ preferences for domestic and international travel : Demand for Australia’s tourism services may decline if Australians’ preference for overseas rather than domestic holidays picks up before international inbound tourism demand increases further. It is possible that cost-of-living pressures, combined with the higher cost of international travel, could lead Australian households to continue to prefer domestic holidays for a time. Nevertheless, many households have significant savings and pent-up demand for international travel after planned trips have been deferred over the past few years.
• The global economic outlook : Global economic conditions and the exchange rate affect decisions about whether to travel the long distance to Australia (as they have in the past) (Dobson and Hooper 2015). Financial concerns and the rising cost of living could make expensive, long-haul travel less attractive.
• The timing and extent of recovery in Chinese tourism : As noted above, China accounted for a large share of tourism spending prior to the pandemic. The outlook for Chinese tourism (and international students from China) remains highly uncertain and will depend on a number of factors, including China’s policies to restrict the spread of COVID-19 , the outlook for the Chinese economy and the travel preferences of Chinese tourists more generally.

Restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 and precautionary behaviour significantly disrupted the movement of people both domestically and internationally throughout the pandemic. Since restrictions have eased, international travel has been slow to recover, but domestic tourism spending has rebounded to be above pre-pandemic levels and many tourism service providers are currently operating at capacity. Looking ahead, tourism activity is expected to continue to recover, as supply-side issues are slowly resolved and international tourism picks up further. Australia remains an attractive destination for both domestic and international tourists, and the resilience and flexibility demonstrated by Australian tourism businesses in recent years bode well for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

The authors are from the Regional and Industry Analysis section of Economic Analysis Department. The authors are grateful for the assistance provided by others in the department, in particular Aaron Walker and James Holloway. [*]

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2022), ‘Main Contributors to Change’, Consumer Price Index , June.

Department of Home Affairs (2022), ‘Visa processing times’, viewed 14 November 2022. Available at <https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times>.

Dobson C and Hooper K (2015), ‘ Insights from the Australian Tourism Industry ’, RBA Bulletin , March, pp 21–31.

Grozinger P and Parsons S (2020), ‘ The COVID-19 Outbreak and Australia’s Education and Tourism Exports ’, RBA Bulletin , December.

Hall R and Godfrey A (2019), ‘Edu-tourism and the Impact of International Students’, International Education Association of Australia, 3 May.

Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account

Estimates of tourism’s direct contribution to the economy including GDP, value added, employment and consumption by product and industry

• Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account Reference Period 2021-22 financial year
• Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account Reference Period 2020-21 financial year
• Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account Reference Period 2019-20 financial year
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Key statistics

• Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) rose 60.1% to $57.1b in chain volume terms in 2022-23 but remains below the 2018-19 peak of $63.4b.
• Tourism's contribution to economy GDP rose to 2.5% in 2022-23 but remains below the 2018-19 level of 3.1%.
• Domestic tourism consumption rose by $34.9b to $124.9b in 2022-23 while international tourism rose by $17.7b to $23.6b in chain volume terms.
• Tourism filled jobs rose to 626,400 in 2022-23 but remains below the 2018-19 peak of 700,900 filled jobs.
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(a) As the reference period for chain volume measures is 2021-22, chain volume measures and current prices are identical in 2021-22.

Direct tourism

All references to "tourism" are referring to "direct tourism" unless otherwise specified. A direct tourism impact occurs where there is a direct (physical and economic) relationship between the visitor and producer of a good or service. For more information, refer to the Methodology section.

Gross Domestic product

• In current price terms, tourism GDP rose 76.6% to $63.0b in 2022-23 to be above the 2018-19 level of $60.3b. Of this, tourism GVA was $57.2b and tourism net taxes on products $5.7b.
• In chain volume terms, tourism GDP rose 60.1% in 2022-23 but stands at 90.1% of its 2018-19 level.

Consumption

• In purchasers' price terms, domestic consumption increased 53.7% to $138.4b in 2022-23, the highest level in the time series.
• In chain volume terms , domestic consumption increased 38.8% to $124.9b in 2022-23, the highest level in the time series. 
• In purchasers' price terms, international consumption increased from $5.9b to $26.1b in 2022-23 but remains well below the 2018-19 level of $39.3b. 
• In chain volume terms, international consumption increased from $5.9b to $23.6b in 2022-23 but remains well below the 2018-19 level of $42.5b. 

Industry gross value added, current prices

• The accommodation industry's GVA increased to $7.7b in 2022-23 which is 25.5% higher than the 2018-19 level of $6.2b. 
• The cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services industry's GVA increased to $7.0b which is 17.6% higher than the 2018-19 level of $5.9b.
• The travel agency and information centre services industry's GVA increased to $6.1b which is 7.8% higher than the 2018-19 level of $5.7b.
• The air, water and other transport industry's GVA increased to $7.1b but remains 9.2% below the 2018-19 level of $7.9b. 
• The education and training industry's GVA increased from $1.2b to $3.2b but remains 47.9% below the 2018-19 level of $6.1b.

Tourism employment

• Tourism accounted for 4.1% of the filled jobs in the whole economy in 2022-23 but this is still lower than the 5.1% of filled jobs in 2018-19.
• The greatest increases in filled jobs in 2022-23 occurred in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (up 58,100 jobs), retail trade (up 32,500 jobs), accommodation (up 22,900 jobs) and education and training (up 19,600 jobs).
• Increases were recorded in both full-time filled jobs (up 46.0% to 317,600 jobs) and part-time filled jobs (up 37.2% to 308,800 jobs) in 2022-23.
• In 2022-23, filled jobs worked by females increased more than those filled by males with increases of 42.9% to 345,500 jobs and 39.9% to 280,900 jobs respectively.

Key considerations in data interpretation

Tourism estimates.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS) data sourced from Tourism Research Australia (TRA) is one of the key inputs to this account. Due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, IVS interviews were paused from June quarter 2020 to June quarter 2022 and data were imputed. Full sampling interviewing returned from March quarter 2023. Following a review by the TRA of the imputation method and changes to ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures data used for IVS benchmarking, data for 2021-22 has been revised.

For more information see  International Visitor Survey Methodology and Overseas Arrivals and Departures . 

Changes in this issue

New process to derive economic measures.

This publication includes a methodological update. This update was undertaken to modernise the processing system and enhance the methodology. Consequently, the estimates for the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 periods, which were previously published, have been revised. For an overview of the updated methodology, please refer to the Methodology page.

Status in employment

The term ‘status in employment’ has been changed to full-time and part-time employment to be consistent with  Labour Force, Australia . 

Updated job distribution in transport

The jobs that were previously reported under rail transport are now included in the air, water, and other transport industry.

Analysis of results

The contribution of tourism to the Australian economy has been measured using the demand generated by visitors and the supply of tourism products by domestic producers.

The diagram below provides a graphical depiction of the flow of tourism consumption through the Australian economy in 2022-23. What the diagram highlights is that, unlike traditional ANZSIC industries in the Australian National Accounts, tourism is not measured by the output of a single industry, but rather from the demand side i.e. the activities of visitors. It is the products that visitors consume that define what the tourism economy produces. The diagram shows how the value of internal tourism consumption (as measured by the sum of international and domestic tourism consumption in purchaser's prices, i.e. the price the visitor pays) is disaggregated to either form part of tourism GVA/tourism GDP, is excluded as it forms part of the "second round" indirect effects of tourism, or is output that was not domestically produced.

Flow of tourism consumption through the Australian Economy (a)(b)(c)

A flow chart representing the flow of tourism consumption through the Australian economy, year ending June 2023. Note, totals may not add due to rounding; tourism consumption is measured in purchasers’ prices unless otherwise specified. Other monetary aggregates are measured in basic prices; all figures in this diagram are in current price terms unless otherwise specified. Domestic tourist consumption to the value of $138,423 million is comprised of business and government, to the value of $25,433 million, and household, to the value of $112,990 million. International tourism consumption, to the value of $26,105 million, combines with domestic tourist consumption to create internal tourism consumption, to the value of $164,528 million. Internal tourism consumption splits into three values; internal tourism consumption at basic prices, to the value of $138,492 million; cost to retailers of imported goods sold directly to visitors, to the value of $13,506 million, and net taxes on tourism products to the value of $12,530 million. Internal tourism consumption at basic prices is comprised of cost to retailers of domestic goods sold directly to visitors, including wholesale and transport margins supplied domestically, to the value of $24,667 million; and direct tourism output, to the value of $113,825 million. Direct tourism output flows into two values; intermediate inputs used by tourism industries, to the value of $56,595 million; and direct tourism value added, to the value of $57,230 million. Cost to retailers of domestic goods sold directly to visitors and intermediate inputs used by tourism industries connect to second round (indirect) effects to supplier industries. Net taxes on tourism products flows into two values; net taxes on tourism products (in the case of goods, this will only include the net taxes attributable to retail trade activities), to the value of $5,720 million; and net taxes on indirect tourism output to the value of $6,810 million. Direct tourism value added and net taxes on tourism products combine to create direct tourism GDP, to the value of $62,950 million. Direct tourism value added is used to estimate total tourism employed persons, to the value of 626,400 tourism filled jobs.

Revisions are a necessary and expected part of accounts compilation as data sources are updated and improved over time. This issue includes revisions to tourism aggregates from 2019-20 to 2021-22.  Revisions in the 2022-23 release include:

• Revisions to both domestic and international tourism expenditure as a result of the TSA annual balancing and confrontation process. This is particularly the case for tourism products where the estimates have been modelled using a range of source data.
• Replacing modelled 2021-22 net taxes, imports and margins data with the latest issue of Australian National Accounts: Supply Use Tables (available on a T-1 basis) for 2021-22. 
• Revisions related to the new process to derive economic measures.
• Revisions to international tourism consumption due to the incorporation of updated 2021-22 data from Tourism Research Australia and updated data from the Survey of International Trade in Services for 2020-21 and 2021-22. 

Please note, the revisions to the chain volume level estimates across the time series are an expected part of re-referencing the indexes to 100 in the reference year.

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For further information about these and related statistics, please contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us. 

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• Tourism Investment Attraction

W it h its stable and secure investment environment and sustained economic prosperity, Western Australia is an attractive, unique and exciting tourism investment proposition.

There has never been a better time to invest in tourism in Western Australia to capitalise on the state's record visitation, capital investment, excellent international access, innovative marketing and unique and diverse destinations and experiences.

Tourism WA is working with government and industry partners through its investment attraction initiatives to deliver new tourism offerings into Perth and Western Australia.

These initiatives are outlined below:

• An investment portfolio detailing major public and private tourism investment opportunities around the state
• Targeted tourism accommodation studies in key destinations that quantify the number and types of accommodation required to meet current and future demand. These studies have been prepared to assist investment decision making and are available below.
• Through the National Parks Tourism Experiences Development (NPTED) signature accommodation program, Tourism WA is engaging with investors and operators with a focus on delivering new brands and high-end offerings into some of the states iconic destinations.

Broome has experienced extraordinary visitor interest over the past few years with increased domestic demand throughout and beyond the pandemic. Visitation to Broome looks set to increase again, following the 2024 launch of the direct non-stop flight from Singapore, making it even more accessible to international visitors.

To address the growing need for short-stay accommodation to support visitation to Broome, Tourism WA commissioned a study to identify market gaps and future demand, with the findings being used to inform government, developers and investors on short-stay accommodation investment decisions in Broome. The study aims to facilitate the growth of Broome's vibrant tourism industry.

Read the report: Broome Accomodation Study

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Human infection is rare. But be aware of increased health risks when travelling to impacted countries.

What is highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (Avian influenza)?

Avian influenza is an infectious disease caused by a group of influenza viruses. The viruses mainly affect birds. But they can also infect other animals, including mammals. Infected birds and other animals can spread the viruses to humans.

Eggs and poultry meat are safe to eat if handled and cooked using safe food handling practices.

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Less common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or seizures.

For more information on Avian Influenza , visit the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control.

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Research the health risks in your destinations before you go.

There's currently no vaccine available specifically for avian influenza. But getting the annual influenza vaccine is important to stop avian influenza from becoming a bigger threat to humans.

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Talk to a doctor if you feel unwell.

If you feel unwell while travelling back to Australia, tell a crew member or airport staff. Make sure to tell them about any contact with sick people or animals.

When you get home

See your doctor if you show symptoms of avian influenza after returning to Australia. Tell them your recent travel history, including any contact with sick people or animals.

• See our general travel health advice.
• Read about preventing infectious diseases while overseas.
• Understand how the Australian Government can and can't help if you get sick overseas.
• Visit the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control – Avian influenza (bird flu).

Tourism forecasts for Australia

Summarises the outlook for domestic and international tourism in Australia.

Tourism forecasts for Australia 2023 to 2028

TRA produces tourism forecasts for Australia. This year, we produced:

• international forecasts at the national level and for many markets and purposes of travel
• domestic forecasts at the national level and for each state and territory. 

The forecasts cover the 5-year forward period, 2023 to 2028, on a calendar year basis. Forecast data are available to download at the bottom of this page.

The report contains a written summary and analysis of the forecast data. It presents an overview of the outlook and discusses the drivers and implications of the projected path forward for the tourism sector. It also notes some key risks to the forecasts.

Download the report

Tourism forecasts for Australia 2023-2028

Visitor economy outlook

The report forecasts a positive outlook for the visitor economy. In the next 5 years, we predict both international and domestic tourism will continue to grow. We expect:

• international travel to Australia will exceed its pre-pandemic level in 2025 
• international spend in Australia will exceed its pre-pandemic level in 2024
• domestic travel will stabilise in 2023, after strong growth in 2022
• domestic tourism spend, which already exceeds its pre-pandemic level, will continue to rise
• domestic tourism nights in all states and territories will recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Our forecasting method

TRA produces forecasts using a hybrid, evidence-based approach. This method combines data-based analysis and modelling with expert judgement. Insights from the Tourism Forecasting Expert Panel are a critical component of TRA’s forecasting process. The Panel:

• offers long-standing support for TRA’s forecasting work
• is a source of broad-based, respected and constructive intelligence that informs the tourism forecasts
• comprises academics, industry and government specialists, and representatives from the state and territory tourism organisations
• provided input to this year’s forecasting work through survey responses, high-level discussions, and feedback on draft forecast data.

Download the data

Domestic forecasts 2023-2028 data tables

International forecasts 2023-2028 data tables

Contact TRA

mail   tourism.research@tra.gov.au

Previous reports

Tourism forecasts 2021-2026, tourism forecasts 2022-2027, related content, domestic tourism results.

International tourism results

Tourism Investment Monitor

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Experts say government’s aviation plan is a ‘missed opportunity’ for travellers

Aviation experts have described the shake-up to the industry as “disappointing” saying it shows where Australia is falling behind.

Qantas sells 300 first class fares by mistake

‘Finally’: Huge change on Aussie airlines

First class passenger’s brazen act divides

The federal government’s Aviation White Paper was released on Monday and not everyone is happy about it.

The aim to crack down on airlines and bolster customer rights, through an aviation ombudsman, gives passengers further protections when it comes to things like refunds and flight cancellations.

But experts say the long-awaited paper, which comes two years after the government flagged plans to review the aviation sector, is a “missed opportunity” to bring Aussie passenger rights in line with other countries.

Although the federal government is vowing to establish a watchdog that will force airlines to pay cash compensation to inconvenienced travellers and set guidelines for customer treatment, according to Australian Lawyers Alliance spokeswoman Victoria Roy, these suggestions still fall short of international standards.

The travel lawyer said while the proposed Charter of Rights and the Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme are an improvement on the current situation, “overall the white paper is disappointing for consumers”.

“The Aviation White Paper sets the plan to achieve the government’s vision for aviation until 2050. By failing to introduce a simple flight delay compensation scheme, the government has committed to keep Australian passenger rights behind the EU, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Brazil, India, Turkey and countless other jurisdictions for the next 25 years,” Ms Roy said.

Currently, Australia’s reimbursement offers are behind the rest of the world, with the UK, Europe and Canada all offering compensation models.

For example, inconvenienced passengers in Europe are entitled to between $A386 and $A926 (depending on the distance of the flight), if a flight is delayed by at least three hours with less than two weeks’ notice.

They are also entitled to free drinks and food at the airport if their flight departs late, and free accommodation and transport if it is delayed until the next day.

However, compensation rules do not apply in situations where extraordinary circumstances, such as poor weather, caused the delays.

As such, there are concerns the Australian government’s vision may not require carriers to pay passengers more than their travel expenses and airfare refunds.

Ms Roy also noted travellers who have sustained a psychiatric injury or experienced sexual assault have also been left without clear rights to compensation.

“The Australian Consumer Law is complex and has exemptions which the white paper does not address,” she said.

She said replacing the Airline Consumer Advocate with an Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme which will have the power to direct airlines to provide remedies is an improvement, but it exposes a potential problem.

“It raises the question of whether the ombudsperson will direct airlines to pay compensation for inconvenience and distress as well as ticket refunds and passenger expenses, and if so, how it will quantify that compensation. A commitment to a flight delay compensation scheme would have given passengers certainty.”

Under the scheme, airlines will be required to report reasons for delay and cancellation which is a move in the right direction, according to Ms Roy.

“[It] will provide transparency to passengers and give data to the ombudsperson and allow the ACCC to take necessary action,” she said.

Adam Glezer of Consumer Champion has been pushing for a compensation scheme since 2020 and said what’s particularly important is having strict timelines where refunds have to be processed.

“As it stands airlines can say they will offer a refund to customers, but it can take months or years,” he told news.com.au.

“The devil will be in the detail, however I am extremely disappointed after the release of the white paper.

“Having an ombudsman replace the Airline Advocate is a step in the right direction. However, it appears that they will enforce current laws under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) which are overly complex and brittle at best.”

He said when it comes to penalties for breaching the ACL, the white paper is “very non-committal”.

“What we desperately need is legislation to provide the automatic right to a refund for all cancellations, irrespective of the reason, as they have in the USA.”

“Customers need entitlements to compensation for significantly delayed flights and cancellations as they have in the EU and UK. It’s the only thing that will hold airlines accountable. This wasn’t even addressed in the White Paper”.

“Outside of enforcing current laws through having an ombudsman and increased transparency, I struggle to see any significant improvement.”

Speaking to the ABC earlier, Transport Minister Catherine King said the government would will get to work setting up the new airline ombudsman immediately while parliament considers the relevant legislation.

The charter of customer rights will outline when passengers are entitled to a cash refund for cancelled or delayed flights, among other resolution-related things.

“We know customers of airlines and airports have struggled to enforce their rights under Australian Consumer Law and this sets up a new independent ombudsman scheme to establish a charter of rights,” Ms King said.

“What has been happening for people is they have struggled to actually get anyone, often (spending) hours on phones trying to struggle to understand what it is they are entitled to and the ombudsman scheme allows that independent … complaints mechanism and it sets out clearly what the expectations are for the conduct of airlines and airports when it comes to customer rights.”

The new watchdog will have powers to dish out and enforce penalties on both domestic and international airlines.

Though, when asked what enforcement on international airlines would look like, the transport minister said that would be fleshed out in a consultation paper.

Flight Centre Travel Group CEO and founder, Graham Turner, welcomed the white paper but said they’re yet to see the practicalities of it unfold.

“The white paper offers some good prospective outcomes for customers regarding refunds however, it’s only the start of a process and we’re yet to see the practicalities of it unfold,” he said.

“Expediting certain refunds from airlines will certainly mean we, as a travel agency, can pass this on to our customers faster which is great.

“However, it’s important to note that there are a range of reasons that flights may be delayed or cancelled, and not all of them are the fault of the airline.”

The white paper outlines ways to improve the sustainability, competitiveness, efficiency and safety of the aviation sector.

Though it is designed to guide the sector through to 2050, RMIT Aviation Academy director Lea Vesic says many of its suggestions provide short-term solutions to systemic issues like workplace shortages.

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“The federal government’s Aviation White Paper seems to reactively address systemic problems in the aviation industry, rather than presenting a robust vision for its future,” she said.

“Although attention has been rightly focused on market competition and consumer rights, there is much more to achieve in reforming the industry.”

The Transport Workers Union also welcomed the white paper, but said it was “crucial no additional pressure” was pushed onto a workforce that was already “under the pump”.

Aussies have snapped up hundreds of long-haul first class fares for just $4300 return – but it is not as it seems.

It’s something Aussie passengers have been waiting a very long time for following a massive move that will see airlines forced to compensate customers.

A first class passenger on an Emirates flight has shared a now viral TikTok admitting to this brazen act – and it’s sparked a plane etiquette debate.

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Eligible employees have the right to refuse employer or third-party contact outside of working hours in some circumstances.

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Awards and agreements, tips for discussing out of hours contact, protections, tools and resources, related information.

For small business employers and their employees, the right to disconnect provisions apply from 26 August 2025 .

Employees of non-small business employers have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) outside their working hours, unless doing so is unreasonable. This includes contact (or attempted contact) from an employer or a third party.

Third party could include clients, suppliers, staff from other businesses, or members of the public.

Contact could include a range of communication channels used to engage with employees, such as calls, emails, texts, social media and messaging services.

Employers and employees are encouraged to discuss contact out of hours and set expectations that suit the workplace and the employee’s role. Find Tips for discussing out of hours contact .

When working out whether an employee’s refusal is unreasonable, the following factors must be considered:

• the reason for the contact
• how the contact is made and how disruptive it is to the employee
• being available to perform work during the period they’re contacted, or
• working additional hours outside their ordinary hours of work
• the employee’s role in the business and level of responsibility
• the employee’s personal circumstances, including family or caring responsibilities.

Other matters may also be considered.

It will be unreasonable for an employee to refuse to read, monitor or respond if the contact or attempted contact is required by law. 

Example: Employee’s personal circumstances make out of hours contact unreasonable

Selim is a consultant and is working on a major project for a client. Selim has 2 young children. He has flexible working arrangements and his working hours are 7.30 am to 4 pm so that he can pick up his children from daycare.

At 4.30 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, Selim’s supervisor, Ava, is copied into an urgent email to Selim from the client. Ava considers whether to contact Selim and ask him to action the client’s request. It’s urgent and Selim is very familiar with this aspect of the client’s work. However, Ava knows that Selim is on his way to pick up his children and it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to deal with the request.

Ava asks another consultant to help the client and will update Selim when he returns to work. Ava’s decision is appropriate given Selim’s family responsibilities and the fact that another employee could resolve the issue.

Example: Employee is compensated for reasonable out of hours contact

Elizabeth is an associate at a medium-sized architecture firm where she usually works 8.30 am to 5 pm.

Elizabeth has been asked to fill in for her manager who is taking 3 months leave. During this period, Elizabeth will need to lead the delivery of a project for a major client. She is receiving extra pay while acting in her manager’s role.

Her supervising partner, Devi, has let Elizabeth know that a reasonable amount of out of hours contact and work will be required during her acting period to deliver the project. She is also told that this has been factored into her higher pay.

Devi gives her a copy of the firm’s policy on out of hours contact and asks if she has any questions.

In her second week in the role, Elizabeth leaves work at 5 pm. Shortly after, Devi finds out that Elizabeth’s team needs to urgently provide the client with additional documents for the project by 10 am tomorrow. It will take around 3 hours to prepare the documents. Devi tries to call Elizabeth on her personal mobile and sends her a text message explaining the situation.

Elizabeth doesn’t answer the calls as she’s about to go to the gym and then run some errands. She reads the full message at 8 pm but decides that it’s too late to respond to Devi. Based on the circumstances, Elizabeth’s refusal to monitor or respond to Devi’s contact could be unreasonable.

Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can also include additional right to disconnect provisions.

All awards include a right to disconnect term.

Award changes

The Fair Work Commission added right to disconnect terms to all awards on 26 August 2024. Learn more at Variation of modern awards to include a right to disconnect .

In some situations, an employee may be required to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from the employer outside their working hours in accordance with an award term.

More award information will be available on this page soon. Check back for further updates. In the meantime, you can check your award for right to disconnect rules that apply for your industry or occupation.

If you're covered by an enterprise or other registered agreement, check the terms of your agreement for information about the right to disconnect. To find an enterprise agreement, go to the Fair Work Commission’s website .

Regular and open communication helps maintain a harmonious working environment. It can also prevent workplace problems from happening. Both employees and employers are responsible for open and effective communication at and about work. Learn more about good workplace communication practices.

Employers and employees are encouraged to discuss out of hours contact and set expectations that suit the workplace and the employee’s role. Where possible, there are benefits to having these conversations before out of hours contact happens.

A discussion about out of hours contact could include:

It’s important employees know when they can disconnect from work and when they may be expected to monitor, read or respond to contact.

For example, a specialist technical engineer is told that while out of hours contact isn’t common, they may be contacted out of hours in response to a critical technical outage. They don’t need to monitor emails, but will be expected to answer or return a phone call about a serious outage.

It’s important to check the relevant award, enterprise agreement or employment contract for entitlements that may apply. Learn more about Pay and wages and Employment conditions .

For example, if there’s a serious issue, an employee may prefer to be called on their personal phone so that they don’t have to monitor a work phone or email account.

For example, managers and supervisors may formalise arrangements for out of hours contact and communicate those arrangements with senior leaders. For external clients, managers and supervisors may consider whether and how they should discuss expectations about communication with their clients.

For example, the arrangement could be reviewed on a regular basis or when there’s a change in an employee’s hours (such as a change to hours or work due to a flexible work arrangement).

Employers should also consider:

For example, managers can develop their skills by:

• completing our Difficult conversations in the workplace manager online course .
• reading our Consultation and cooperation in the workplace guide.

Employees can develop their skills by completing our Difficult conversations in the workplace employee course .

For example, updates to position descriptions to reflect expectations for out of hours contact.

For example, recording the arrangement in writing.

Tip: Guidance on the right to disconnect

The Australian Public Service Commission has published guidance on the right to disconnect in the public service sector .

The Fair Work Commission has published a video on understanding the new right to disconnect as well as a Right to disconnect fact sheet . They’re also required to make guidelines about the operation of the right to disconnect. These are not yet available.

Disputes about an employee’s right to disconnect should first be discussed at the workplace level to try to resolve the dispute.

If that isn’t successful, employees or employers can go to the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) to deal with the dispute. The Commission can make orders or deal with the dispute in other ways. This includes making orders to stop an employee from refusing contact or to stop an employer from taking certain actions.

You can read more at the Commission’s Right to disconnect disputes page.

Tip: We’re different from the Fair Work Commission

A reminder that the Commission is the national workplace relations tribunal and registered organisations regulator.

We’re the Fair Work Ombudsman. Our role is to give you advice and assistance on workplace laws.

Learn more about the difference between us (the Fair Work Ombudsman) and the Fair Work Commission .

The right to disconnect is a workplace right under general protection laws . These laws are protected rights employees have under the Fair Work Act.

Sources reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.333M–333W, s.340

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Printed from fairwork.gov.au Content last updated: 2024-08-26 © Copyright Fair Work Ombudsman

Even after the government’s aviation crackdown, Australia will lag behind on flyers’ rights

Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation, UNSW Sydney

Disclosure statement

During and following my time as Chair of the International Air Services Commission I offered commentary on the Australian aviation market to the ACCC.

UNSW Sydney provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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When it comes to consumer protections for airline passengers, Australia has long been dragging its feet.

The limited protections we do have rely heavily on the general Australian Consumer Law . The “consumer guarantees” provided in this law only require services to be delivered in the arguably vague framework of a “reasonable time”.

That might be okay if we’re just getting a sofa delivered from a furniture retailer. The cost of a late delivery is low.

But these guarantees were not tailored to the unique impacts delayed or cancelled flights can have on travellers. Australia’s lack of aviation-specific protections has long been a severe pain point for flyers, only heightened by pandemic disruption.

The government’s much-awaited Aviation White Paper , released in full on Monday, promised to address this issue. At the heart of the reforms, Australia will get a new aviation ombud scheme, and a new charter of customer rights for passengers.

The recognition that new protections are needed is a step in the right direction. But this once-in-a-generation white paper missed the chance to achieve far more, by moving Australia to the style of consumer protection that have now been offered for 20 years in Europe .

Why is air travel unique?

Airline customers have a reasonable expectation of arriving at their destination, at (or close to) the time published by the airline in its schedule at the time the reservation was paid and ticketed.

If this can’t be achieved, they should at least arrive at some amended time that was advised far enough in advance to allow related reservations and bookings to be adjusted.

Air travel has to be punctual because it doesn’t have any substitutes. On even a modest deadline, driving from Perth or even Sydney to Melbourne, for example, is not a comparable option.

And a passenger’s options to adapt their travel plans diminish as the departure date approaches. In the final days before travel, hotel cancellation deadlines pass and alternative connecting flight options sell out or spike in price.

In some cases, travelling to a specific event can become pointless for a passenger if a delay is lengthy enough.

Australia is playing catch-up

In contrast with Australia, aviation-specific protections have long existed in many other developed economies.

In the European Union (EU), for example, regulations make clear that airlines have specific obligations and responsibilities in the event of delays, cancellations and denied boardings. This includes the right to compensation of up to €600 (A$988).

These protections and the levels of compensation payable for failure to meet specified requirements for different kinds of flights are comprehensively legislated.

Canada has a slightly different approach – smaller regional carriers have different obligations to mainline operators. But as with the European regulation, it imposes an obligation to get the passenger to the ticketed destination, or to refund the ticket if the journey has become pointless.

The absence of such legislated protections in Australia means we typically have to rely on the goodwill of the airline when things go wrong.

Real action has been delayed

The centrepiece proposal of the white paper is to create a new ombud scheme with “the power to direct airlines and airports to provide remedies to consumers and investigate customer complaints about airlines’ and airports’ conduct”. This will replace the existing Airline Customer Advocate .

A new charter of customer rights, to be produced by the scheme, will aim to give flyers “greater certainty about what they can expect when flights are cancelled and delayed” and require airlines to be more transparent about their performance.

Read more: Airline 'customer rights charter' to specify when cash refunds required

The white paper noted the poor on-time performance of Australian carriers. It also pointed out that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission identified problems with consumer protections for air travel in Australia as far back as 2017. But its proposals offer no real quantifiable or enforceable improvements to consumer rights.

Despite the well-established models in comparable countries – many of which have followed the EU’s lead – Australians will need to wait for yet another discussion process to be complete before they see what protections may eventually be introduced.

The government’s white paper has largely just kicked the can down the road.

At a minimum, passengers on Australian carriers deserve the assurances given to those travelling in and from Europe: in the event of a cancellation or long delay, that they will be transported to their destination on an alternative flight as quickly as possible.

They should also be given appropriate meals and accommodation until they can make this onward journey, receive compensation for lengthy delays, and have the option to return home with a full refund if their travel has become pointless.

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Tourism Australia execs who ‘tried to hide’ they were in Cannes spent $66k on the trip

Exclusive: The two Tourism Australia executives who tuned in to a job cuts meeting on Zoom from Cannes flew there in business class and spent more than $66,000 on the trip.

Anton Nilsson

Aug 28, 2024

While Tourism Australia was cutting 10% of its workforce due to budget restraints last year, the agency sent the executive whose team was most affected by the redundancies on a trip to the French Riviera at a cost of more than $66,000, Crikey can reveal. 

Crikey reported in June that chief marketing officer Susan Coghill and two colleagues tuned in to a Zoom meeting called to discuss the job cuts, using generic backgrounds on the video call, before managing director Phillipa Harrison let slip that “Susan is in Cannes”, to the frustration of team members back home who were about to be laid off. Most of the redundancies were in Coghill’s own marketing team.

At the time, Tourism Australia refused to answer questions about how much the trip cost and whether the trio flew there in business class or not. 

Now, using documents obtained under Australia’s freedom of information law, Crikey can reveal they did indeed fly business class, at a total travel cost of $34,143. 

Coghill went to Cannes along with Tourism Australia’s executive general manager of strategy and research, Rob Dougan, and an unnamed member of the marketing team to attend the 2023 Lions Awards for creative communication.

Tourism Australia had entered the 2023 Lions Awards contest, but didn’t win any trophies. 

The tickets for the event cost the equivalent of $23,000, a receipt obtained by Crikey shows. 

The trio stayed in an Airbnb that cost $5,535 for five days, spent $454 on taxis and Ubers, and splurged $540 on meals and a visit to a shop. 

Crikey showed the receipts to one of the employees who was made redundant.

“To be honest it doesn’t worry me that much,” the person said. “Was the timing bad? Yes, but I don’t hold any grudges about people going to Cannes. I think what was worse was them trying to hide it.” 

Two people with insight into Tourism Australia who were shown the receipts agreed Coghill and her colleagues didn’t appear to have spent much on meals and entertainment. 

“There wasn’t much spent on food and drinks which seems odd for Tourism Australia,” one of them said. “But wow, expensive tickets.”

The new documents also give some insight into Tourism Australia’s public relations efforts, and show that the first Crikey story on the Cannes trip was discussed at the highest level inside the agency. 

In June, when the first Cannes story was published, Tourism Australia had just fronted Senate estimates to answer questions about another Crikey scoop: the firing of three employees for using $137,441 of taxpayer funds on private holidays.

Included in the documents released this week was an email from Tourism Australia’s executive general manager of corporate affairs Bede Fennell, sent to the agency’s board of directors, titled “Board media update”.

Under the heading “potential Cannes story”, Fennell mentioned Crikey’s coverage, writing: “As we mentioned [on a call the day before], we expect another article to come.”

Information released to the Senate earlier this month shows that costly trips are nothing unusual at Tourism Australia. 

Between July 1 last year and April 30, the total travel expenditure for Tourism Australia employees was $2,514,124. Some of those trips were bought on credit cards, including the single biggest credit card transaction of the financial year: $41,954 for four return trips for staff to “accompany travel agents and media” at an industry function in May.

Harrison, the managing director, travelled for $46,392 between February and June this year, the Senate documents show.

In the course of Crikey reporting this story, the Tourism Australia media team answered several questions seeking clarity on the contents of the freedom of information documents. In response to a request for an on-the-record comment, the team sent the same quotes that were issued by a spokesperson in June.

“Tourism Australia is a marketing organisation and features at major marketing events around the world. Our chief marketing officer attends these events from time to time to represent the organisation and the best of Australian tourism,” the spokesperson said.

“As an organisation selling Australia on the international stage, events like this are an important part of keeping Australian tourism front of mind for global audiences.”

About the Author

Politics Reporter @antonknilsson

Anton Nilsson is Crikey's federal political reporter. He previously covered NSW Parliament for NCA NewsWire, and before that, worked for Sweden's Expressen newspaper as well as other publications in Sweden, Australia and the United States.

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What does Tourism Australia actually do? For tourism, I mean – obviously it’s a never-ending source of money for some execs. But what does it do for all the $$$ it has at its disposal?

Allow governments to say that they are doing something about promoting Australia as a tourist destination??

Looking at its latest annual reports, I believe it likes to take responsibility for the $142b in tourism dollars spend in this country.

Well worth the $38m+ salary bill for 186 employees. That’s just $205k average salary per staff member against $763m in tourism dollars generated per staff member ! That’s some serious f**&ng return on tourism advocacy for you there, champ.

At least that’s what I’d be saying if I were their Executive General Manager of Public Relations. From a Zoom call. In Zurich. In the Most Expensive Restaurant in Zurich.

The sort of ‘tourism’ we plebs couldn’t afford.

Just what I was going to say klewso.

On a positive note, they didn’t lose $180Mil.

To be fair, $66,000 in south of France terms is not a lot of money. I think that’s largely because big swinging decision-makers habitually go there to make decisions. You’d do well to rent a shared afternoon on a balcony at the Grand Prix de Monaco for less than that, even without your homard et frites.

As someone who, back around 1990, had control over a multimillion dollar travel & accommodation budget for a 3500 employee division of a state wide utility company, I find spending like this both shameful but also likely justifiable (or at least partially).

There is a cost to doing business as also to training and developing employees. Whilst I have never been across overseas work travel, I do doubt the Cannes foray costs. One tends to assume the three “tickets” covered more than the registration costs and a few associated dinners, cocktail parties. But, who knows?

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Sustainable tourism

Sal Salis, Ningaloo, Western Australia © Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef

Tourism Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for influencing international visitors to travel to and through Australia for leisure and business events to foster a sustainable tourism industry. In striving to achieve this goal, Tourism Australia places great importance on respecting and protecting the cultures, landscapes and wildlife that are integral to Australia’s appeal as a destination.  

Find out more about the National Sustainability Framework for the Visitor Economy and Sustainable Tourism Toolkit, which have been jointly developed by the Australian Government, and State and Territory governments.

Initial Assessment

Strive 4 sustainability scorecard.

Ecotourism Australia’s Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard pathway program is designed for tourism businesses looking to take their first steps towards measuring their sustainability efforts. The scorecard measures where a business or tourism operator is at on their sustainability journey at a point in time and assesses the following four pillars: environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts and sustainable management. 

Get accredited or certified

After you have made progress in implementing sustainability practices, you may consider undertaking formal training or seeking formal recognition by getting accredited or certified. Industry recognised programs can lead to many benefits, including:

• Increased credibility and trust:  providing external validation of your commitment to sustainable practices.
• Competitive advantage:  setting you apart from competitors by connecting you with like-minded customers.
• Improve operational efficiency:  providing you with a framework to plan action that makes a difference to your business.
• Encouraging continuous improvement : through regular auditing requirements.

There are many accreditation and certification schemes available to tourism businesses in Australia. These programs can be either designed specifically for tourism businesses, or available to business across many industries.

Tourism-specific programs

The Australian Tourism Industry Council’s Sustainable Tourism Accreditation and Emissions Reduction Program is for small, medium and regional tourism businesses. The programs have been updated to reflect the National Sustainability Framework.

Specialist sustainability certification programs in Australia include EarthCheck and Ecotourism Australia , who both offer multiple certifications tailored to various business types and needs.

Other sustainability certification programs

• Sustainable architecture and building design standards such as NABERS .
• Cross-sector sustainability programs such as B Corp .
• Environmental and climate action certification programs, such as Climate Active .
• Industry programs for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) certification.
• ISO standards for a wide range of topics including quality standards, energy management systems and sustainable events.

Sharing your story

Tourism operators and destinations with existing sustainability plans in place who want to communicate their sustainability efforts are encouraged review the ACCC’s Making Environmental Claims: A Guide for Business . This straightforward and easy to understand guidance explains the obligations under the Australian Consumer Law which businesses must comply with when making environmental and sustainability claims.

Guides for effective sustainability storytelling

Learn how to effectively communicate your sustainability efforts to global audiences with our guides for tourism and hospitality operators, and destinations. The guides, which are aimed at those who already have sustainability policies, commitments, or action plans in place, have been developed by EarthCheck in partnership with Tourism Australia.

Sustainable Storytellers

Read about some of Australia’s great tourism operators and storytellers who are committed to sustainability, with chapter three dedicated to navigating the path to Carbon Zero.

Driving awareness of, and capability for, a sustainable industry is a defined strategic priority for Tourism Australia and is enshrined within our corporate values.

Our approach is shaped by the following principles:

• We keep our own house in order in living by our employee value: We Do The Right Thing.
• We honour our First Nations people from whom we have much to learn.
• We support others in our industry in adopting practises to operate more sustainably, with positive impact on our land, people and culture. 
• We provide a voice for sustainability in our industry: a voice of advocacy and education.
• We prioritise doing business with those in our industry who support sustainability.
• We promote and share tourism stories that inspire sustainability.
• We partner with like-minded organisations to increase our impact and reach.

Sustainable tourism includes protecting and restoring our natural environment, and helping to conserve Australia’s natural wonders and cultures, so they can be enjoyed today and by future generations. It also means fostering a profitable industry that delivers employment opportunities and economic benefits to communities, and in turn helps improve the tourism experience for our travellers and the quality of life for Australians.

As the National Tourism Organisation, Tourism Australia recognises it has an important role to play in championing and elevating the importance, and the appeal, of sustainable tourism, through our voice of advocacy and education. Our marketing platforms can help Australian tourism businesses to better communicate their sustainability success stories; and, by doing so, help encourage others to follow their lead.  

Key areas of focus for Tourism Australia

• Advocacy: showcasing sustainable and purpose driven tourism products, experiences and examples of best practice.
• Leadership: educating and enabling greater capacity for sustainability in our industry.
• Brand: integrating sustainability into Brand Australia to meet growing consumer demand and drive uptake of sustainable tourism experiences.
• Industry support: highlighting and encouraging industry best practice and raising awareness of Australian tourism’s sustainability credentials.
• Office footprint: reducing Tourism Australia's general footprint, including in the key areas of waste, energy, travel and procurement.
• Events footprint: reducing Tourism Australia’s events footprint and encouraging others in the industry to do the same.
• Procurement and partnerships: sourcing from sustainable suppliers and establishing sustainable credentials for our partners and suppliers.
• Culture: embedding sustainability as a core value within Tourism Australia’s culture, actions and behaviour. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism 

Tourism helps to promote and preserve Australia’s Indigenous cultures by allowing travellers to share in the stories, traditions, art, music of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, while also educating them about Australia’s history, customs and values. This exchange benefits both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and visitors, making it an important pillar of our sustainability approach. Read more about Tourism Australia’s commitment to reconciliation here .

Modern Slavery Statement

To meet the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2018, Tourism Australia has developed and published a Modern Slavery Statement. This outlines our commitment to assessing the risks of modern slavery across our supply chain and putting in place appropriate controls, processes, and procedures to manage these risks across the business. 

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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Owners of the land, sea and waters of the Australian continent, and recognise their custodianship of culture and Country for over 60,000 years.

*Disclaimer:  The information on this website is presented in good faith and on the basis that Tourism Australia, nor their agents or employees, are liable (whether by reason of error, omission, negligence, lack of care or otherwise) to any person for any damage or loss whatsoever which has occurred or may occur in relation to that person taking or not taking (as the case may be) action in respect of any statement, information or advice given in this website. Tourism Australia wishes to advise people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent that this website may contain images of persons now deceased.

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A report released today by the Reef Authority has concluded the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef remains one of future deterioration due largely to climate change. This is despite some habitats and species improving over the past five years thanks to windows of low disturbance and decades of protection and management.

The 2024 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report is the fourth in a series of comprehensive five-yearly reports on the Reef’s health, pressures, management, and potential future. It found climate-driven threats such as warming oceans and severe cyclones have been compounding other impacts from crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, poor water quality and some fishing activities.

Some ecosystems, such as coral habitats and seagrass meadows, have improved over the reporting period, indicating the Reef retains natural resilience. However, the Reef’s capacity to tolerate and recover will be compromised by a rapidly changing climate.

World-leading management initiatives such as work to control the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish and increased ranger patrols to ensure people are doing the right thing, are helping protect biodiversity and supporting the Reef’s resilience.

Reef Authority CEO Josh Thomas said the Great Barrier Reef was a vast and spectacular ecosystem and one of the most complex natural systems on Earth.

“It’s intrinsic beauty, spectacular biodiversity and heritage values endure and underpin significant social, cultural and economic benefits for Australia,” Mr Thomas said.

“However, ecosystems across the world are facing urgent and present threats from a warming climate. Global, national, and local action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is vital.

“We will continue to work with Traditional Owners, partners, and communities to build ecosystem resilience to support the Reef’s future. The Reef Authority’s Great Barrier Reef Blueprint for Climate Resilience and Adaptation (Reef Blueprint 2030) describes key actions we are taking and those needed to address the challenge of climate change impacts on the Reef.”

Reef Authority Chief Scientist Dr Roger Beeden said research showed that management actions such as the crown-of-thorns starfish control program were having measurable and positive impacts on Reef health, boosting its resilience and capacity to recover from major disturbances.

“The research and assessments in the Outlook Report help us understand where the greatest challenges to the Reef’s resilience lie,” Dr Beeden said.

“The Outlook Report is independently reviewed and includes the best-available science and data from research institutions, Australian and Queensland government agencies, and industry. Its findings will help shape the actions these sectors take in the future to protect the Reef.”

The Report found the Great Barrier Reef Region continues to be well-managed overall, noting the enhanced investment by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan, which is delivering significant reforms in fisheries, marine park management, and for climate adaptation solutions.

The 2024 Outlook Report does not include details of the 2023-24 summer’s mass coral bleaching event. The Reef Authority will provide updates on the impacts of this event as the results from several monitoring programs become available over the next 12 months.

The Outlook Report is available here . 

Key findings include:

• The Great Barrier Reef is a vast and spectacular ecosystem and one of the most complex natural systems on Earth. Its natural beauty, amazing biodiversity and heritage values endure and underpin significant social, cultural, and economic benefits for Australia.
• The current condition of coral reef habitats (for the period ending December 2023) across the Great Barrier Reef has improved. 
• While the property’s outstanding universal value as a World Heritage Area remains whole and intact, its integrity continues to be challenged.
• Relatively few intense disturbances occurred over the period, enabling significant recovery of fast-growing corals on many reefs. Mid- and offshore reefs have fared better than inshore reefs. 
• The resilience of social and Indigenous heritage values is underpinned by a healthy ecosystem and the strength of the connections people have with each other and the Reef. 
• The tourism industry has shown great resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and has created new partnerships that enhanced stewardship of the Reef. 
• Just as every increment of global warming will compound impacts, every effective action taken now contributes to a more positive long-term outlook.
• A number of habitats remain in good to very good condition overall, including mangroves and islands.
• The sheer size of the Reef, in combination with legislation, local management actions and Reef stewardship, is a protective feature against broadscale declines in ecosystem.
• The condition of seagrass meadows has improved, reflecting recovery from past flooding impacts in some areas. Seagrass abundance either improved or remained stable in around 60 per cent of the sites monitored between 2020 and 2023.
• Humpback whale populations have continued to recover.
• Seabirds, sharks and rays, and sea snakes, remain in poor condition.
• Marine turtles are in poor condition, and population declines are reported in most species other than southern green turtles and eastern Queensland flatbacks. 

Images, video and audio: Available here

Reef Authority Media  Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority [email protected] I (07) 4750 0846