As the resources boom grinds to a halt, there has been a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the impact on Australia’s economy. But, while the rapid growth of the resources sector has undoubtedly contributed to the country’s economic growth over the last 10 years, there’s reason to believe the impact of its decline won’t be as devastating as some have predicted. That’s because waiting in the wings, is Australia’s tourism industry, which looks set to replace mining as the nation’s biggest export.

1. As question marks remain over the longevity of Australia’s resources
boom, tourism looks set to pick up the slack. Economists predict that the
tourism industry could replace mining as Australia’s biggest export.
SiteMinder explores the figures as released by Tourism Australia...
Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export

2. Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
*Source: Tourism Australia July 2015
$32.5bn 10% 7%
6.5
million
231
million$2.9
billion+
6.5 million visitors to
Australia spent a
record-breaking
$32.5 billion
(year ending March 2015)
...that means tourists
spent an extra $2.9
billion compared with
the year before - up 10%
Visitors are staying for
longer, too - number of
nights spent up 7% to
231 million

3. Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
*Source: Tourism Australia July 2015
from
$1.5 billion
in 2006
to
$6.4 billion
in 2015
Chinese New Year
celebrations
The 2015 AFC
Asian Cup
The 2015 ICC Cricket
World Cup
Chinese visitors were
attracted by:
China’s contribution to
Australian tourism
has increased 20% in
less than 10 years:

4. Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
*Source: Tourism Australia July 2015
Cricket attracted
the largest number
of Indian visitors
ever to travel to
Australia - 23,400
in one month
Visitors from India have
increased by 78% since 2010
- second only to China at 137%
To put this into perspective, the
increase for all other countries
combined has been 16%.

5. Tourism 2020 has six strategic focus areas:
Grow demand from Asia
Build competitive digital capability
Encourage investment and implement the regulatory reform agenda
Ensure tourism transport environment supports growth
Increase supply of labour, skills and Indigenous participation
Build industry resilience, productivity and quality
Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
*Source: Tourism Australia July 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tourism 2020 is a ‘whole of government’ approach.
It aims to increase tourism’s contribution to GDP by up to 50% - that’s $51 billion by 2020.

6. Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
*Source: Tourism Australia July 2015
10%
535,000
Weak Australian dollar
is boosting tourism
Visitors from the United
States up 10% to 535,000
- spending $2.9 billion,
up 14%
Results from the UK
remain soft
- 631,000 visitors spent
$3.5 billion
$3.5bn$3.5bn

7. Why tourism could replace mining
as Australia's biggest export
Source: Tourism Australia July 2015, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sydney Morning Herald
11% 2.5%GDP
Value of inbound
tourism for May 2015
was up 11%
year-on-year
Total tourism income for
the year ending May 2015
stood at $17 billion -
beating coal at
$16.5 billion
Visitor spend on flights,
accommodation, restaurants,
and experiences now account
for 2.5% of GDP - coal contributes
2.3% and iron ore 2.7%
TOURISM
$17bn
COAL
16.5bn
“Tourism has overtaken coal to become Australia’s second-largest export. Tourism may also soon overtake iron ore, Australia’s
largest export, given we expect the price of iron ore to remain under pressure.” - Barclays chief economist Kieran Davies

8. For more hotel and travel industry insights just
like these, you should visit our super-cool blog:
Thank you