Australia’s tourism industry is on track to be worth at least $115 billion by 2020, driven by a resurgence in domestic travel and growth in the Asian market.
New research, to be presented at a major tourism conference in Canberra on Tuesday, will show the industry is now worth $80 billion.
The sector was worth $69 billion in 2010 when it was predicted to grow to $97 billion within a decade.
Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy, a keynote speaker at Tuesday’s conference, says Tourism Australia’s vision is that the industry will be worth between $115 billion and $140 billion by 2020.
He says the sector is tracking at the lower end of that range.
‘We remain on track to achieve this goal,’ he said.
‘This is largely thanks to a resurgence in domestic tourism and the increasing popularity of our country amongst Asia’s emerged and emerging middle classes.’
The new data, from Tourism Research Australia, shows that in the year to June, domestic travel spending grew by 3.4 per cent to $51 billion.
Overseas travellers spent $28 billion, up 5.9 per cent.
Mr McEvoy says Australians are taking about nine times more trips in their home country than they are overseas.
And, he says, despite the tyranny of distance, time and cost, Australia remains one of the world’s most desirable destinations.
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