With major cities welcoming travellers once again after the pandemic, Australia’s Travel & Tourism sector is at last getting back on track, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, shows that Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP and jobs Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth in continues to rise, but prolonged border closures in Australia and key markets such as China means visitor spending numbers are still low.
The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the city’s Travel & Tourism sector contributed over AU$4.5 ($4.19)BN to Perth’s economy, and AU$10 ($9.32) BN and AU$13 ($12.1) BN to Melbourne and Sydney’s economies respectively.
But the pandemic had a devastating effect on Australia’s national economy and the economies of its major cities, as the border closed to overseas visitors.
In Perth, Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP dropped by almost half and in Sydney by almost two thirds in 2020. In Melbourne, the GDP contribution dropped by almost three quarters the same year.
Melbourne saw a resurgence in 2021, but both Sydney and Perth saw continued declines. In 2022, all three cities showed signs of recovery albeit at different paces, with Perth the slowest.
Last year, WTTC is forecasting that Melbourne and Sydney will be only 25% and 27% below 2019 levels respectively.
“Australia is an incredibly vibrant country popular with overseas visitors, but as the borders remained closed at home and in Australia’s largest source markets the country has suffered for a longer period compared to other countries,” says WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson, adding, “As China reopens the future looks bright for Travel & Tourism and the critical contribution it makes to Australia’s economy and jobs.”
“It’s crucial that central and local government continue to recognise the economic and social importance of Travel & Tourism. The sector has shown its resilience and with the right support, recovery can be much faster and much stronger.”
Visitor spend continues to struggle
As tourists return to the cities, the WTTC report says international visitor spend remains slower than many other major cities around the world due to the prolonged border closures in Australia.
Despite seeing signs of recovery in international visitor spending and more tourists coming back to cities, this has taken longer in Australia due to its key source markets, such as China, also extending their own border closures.
But finally, these three Australian cities are beginning to bounce back. Whilst international visitor spend is still on average 46% lower in 2022 than it was in 2019, all three cities are showing strong year-on-year increases.