The falling Australian dollar may be good news for travellers from the US, but local tourism operators say they’re worried it isn’t doing anything to boost tourism from other key markets.
According to the latest industry survey released by Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) and MasterCard, the number one concern amongst businesses is the exchange rate.
The falling dollar was ahead of other issues such as taxes, tourist fees and even Australia’s reputation.
According to the TTF’s CEO, this is because the currency hasn’t fallen enough to help drive tourism from major markets such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Europe.
“This is most likely the result of the currency not depreciating by as much against the currencies of key tourism source markets such as New Zealand, the UK and Europe.”
Margy Osmond, TTF CEO
Research comes as the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed a slow down in arrivals during April from a few high priority inbound markets.
Visitors from China skyrocketed in April this year.
This includes New Zealand, which only increased by 2.1 percent and the UK, which fell by 8.5 percent.
In contrast, arrivals from the US climbed by 7.7 percent and nationals from China jumped 20.8 percent compared to the same month last year.
