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Australia's tourism industry must learn how to maintain and grow its traditional markets, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has warned as the latest figures revealed declining visitor numbers from the US and UK.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for November 2011 showed that arrivals from the UK fell 6.5% on the same month last year, while US visitors dropped 5%.
"Disappointingly, we have now seen three consecutive years of decline from the UK, the US and stagnation in most other Western markets," ATEC managing director Felicia Mariani said.
But she stressed that the industry should not underestimate the importance of these traditional markets.
"We must remember that even with this decline, the US and UK still represent nearly one million visitors coming to our shores each year, which is around 20% of our total inbound visitation," she said.
Mariani urged the industry to work towards a deeper understanding of how to develop these "mature markets".
"The Australian products and experiences that take the time to connect with how the needs and expectations of consumers from mature markets are changing, are the products and experiences that will continue to do well out of these markets," she said.
In contrast, the ABS figures recorded strong growth from China and India of 19.7% and 6.3% respectively, balancing out declining arrival figures. Overall visitor numbers for the month rose 0.5% year on year with 505,300 visitors arriving in Australia.
Meanwhile, the Australian trend for overseas travel was flat despite the continued strength of the Australian dollar. Over the course of November, 653,700 Aussies departed the country.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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