Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Sherry, the Minister for Small Business and Minister Assisting the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister outline to the Senate the importance of the tourism industry to the Australian economy as a whole? How important is the industry to regional Australia and the small business sector? Is there new analysis of the industry available to help chart its future growth?

Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is an important and timely question. Just this week the Minister for Tourism, Mr Ferguson, officially opened the first-ever Tourism Directions Conference here in Parliament House. As minister assisting I also released at the conference the first state of the industry report. There are many positive indicators in the report at what I would have to acknowledge is a difficult time with challenges for the tourism industry. In the face of the global recession, where we saw global international tourism drop by approximately four per cent, the total number of visitors to Australia in 2009 remained unchanged at 5.6 million visitors spending some $23 billion. Tourism contributes some $33 billion to the Australian gross domestic product. It directly employs half a million people. It is Australia’s largest service export industry, representing eight per cent of Australian exports. Forty-six cents in the dollar of tourism is spent in regional Australia, so it is very important from a regional perspective and also for small business. Small businesses make up some 90 per cent of the tourism sector.

In the context of regional benefits, a further benefit is that many overseas visitors commonly known as backpackers fill gaps in the employment market that would otherwise be hard to fill in our low-unemployment environment. They extend their stay in regional Australia and work in industries such as fruit picking and meat processing. What is not commonly known is that backpackers are amongst the higher per capita spenders of the visitors who come to Australia. They spend some $5,753 each, so the money that they earn in our economy is returned to the economy. (Time expired)

Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister outline to the Senate the challenges facing the tourism industry in both domestic and export terms?

Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. I have referred to challenges. There is no doubt there have been major shifts in the global tourism marketplace—for example, the stronger Australian dollar, the growth in aviation capacity and the operation of new, low-cost opportunities. That is increasing Australians travelling overseas. So there is fierce competition. This will only intensify, but there are some positive signs of recovery in inbound travel and in domestic tourism. In the first nine months of this year international visitor arrivals were six per cent higher than in the corresponding period in 2009, and in the first half of this year there has been a recovery in domestic tourism. I understand Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin from the Australia Zoo in Queensland are in the Senate gallery today, and I would like to welcome them. I would also like to acknowledge their positive promotion of Australia and, particularly, Australia’s tourism product. (Time expired)

Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate what the government is doing to help the tourism industry meet the challenges it faces?

Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has both immediate and long-term strategies to help support the industry. The agenda is set out in the national long-term tourism strategy work program. In very brief summary it focuses on reforms to improve productivity, remove unnecessary or duplicated regulation, assist in labour force planning in the sector, encourage investment in areas such as hotels-motels and conference centres and lift general quality standards. We are also encouraging Australians to holiday at home with the No Leave, No Life campaign, which aims to get workers to use their leave and take a short break in Australia. As I am sure everyone is aware, Tourism Australia has successfully secured a visit by Oprah Winfrey, which will include the filming of at least two of her episodes in Australia. That is a first; she has not produced a program outside the United States. This is a great coup. (Time expired)