1360.0 - Measuring Australia's Economy, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/02/2003   
   Page tools: Print Print Page  

Tourism is a significant contributor to the Australian economy, generating markets for a wide variety of goods and services.

In 2000-01, tourism accounted for more than $70 billion worth of goods and services consumed. Domestic visitors contributed 76.0% to total tourism consumption, while international visitors generated 24.0%. There were about 551,000 persons employed in tourism in 2000-01, or 6.0% of total employment in Australia.

In this period, tourism accounted for $31.8 billion (4.7%) of Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Tourism gross value added was $26.3 billion or 4.3% of total industry gross value added in 2000-01.

Tourism also made a significant contribution to Australia's export earnings. In 2000-01, international visitors consumed $17.1 billion worth of goods and services produced by the Australian economy, or 11.2% of total exports of goods and services.


In 2001-02, there were 217.3 million total domestic visitor trips taken by Australian residents aged 15 years and over in Australia. Nearly two thirds of these trips were taken by same day visitors (65.5%), with overnight visitor numbers accounting for the remainder (34.5%). In this period, there were also 4.8 million short-term overseas visitor arrivals to Australia.

In trend terms, the number of monthly short-term overseas visitor arrivals to Australia rose from 213,600 in June 1992 to 398,200 in June 2002 (an increase of 86.4%). Over this period, the most significant monthly fall was recorded in September 2001 (down 2.6% from August 2001), coinciding with the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.


Tourism activity can also be described by data on the capacity, occupancy rates, and takings from short-term non-residential accommodation such as hotels, motels and guest houses, serviced apartments.

In original terms, overall demand for rooms in licensed hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments fell marginally in 2001–02 compared to 2000–01, with occupancy rates down 0.1 percentage points. The figures for room nights occupied and room occupancy rates in the month of June 2002 were the lowest since December 1999.

TOURISM INDICATORS
Hotels, Motels, Guest Houses and Serviced Apartments(a)

Period
Capacity
(guest rooms)(b)

no.
Room nights
occupied

’000
Room occupancy
rates(c)

%
Short-term overseas
visitor arrivals(d)

’000
ANNUAL (ORIGINAL)
1999-2000
192,830
40,897
59.0
4,651.8
2000-01
196,544
41,053
57.5
5,022.0
2001-02
196,854
41,367
57.4
4,768.3
MONTHLY (ORIGINAL)
2001
January
n.a.
3,433.7
56.4
416.6
February
n.a.
3,118.0
56.7
429.2
March
196,559
3,636.8
59.7
428.7
April
n.a.
3,352.1
56.9
402.6
May
n.a.
3,363.2
55.2
328.0
June
196,544
3,157.6
53.6
365.7
July
n.a.
3,603.2
59.1
446.9
August
n.a.
3,539.7
58.0
384.6
September
196,729
3,476.0
58.9
366.3
October
n.a.
3,701.3
60.3
378.5
November
n.a.
3,545.6
59.7
376.2
December
198,133
3,249.0
53.0
523.2
2002
January
n.a.
3,477.8
56.7
379.3
February
n.a.
3,257.0
58.8
437.2
March
197,859
3,693.6
60.2
446.5
April
n.a.
3,368.5
57.0
360.3
May
n.a.
3,337.8
54.7
329.9
June
196,854
3,117.5
52.8
339.4
(a) For establishments with 15 or more rooms.
(b) All capacity data are at end of period.
(c) Room occupancy rates are averages over the period.
(d) Data for April 2001 to June 2001 are preliminary and subject to revision.

Source: Tourist Accommodation, Australia (8635.0) and Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (3401.0).


Explanatory Notes

Tourism is essentially a demand concept. It is not an industry in the traditional sense, in which industries are classified in accord with the goods and services that they produce, because tourism depends on the status of the customer (as visitor). Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.

Tourism statistics are used by many government agencies, state and territory tourism authorities, research bodies and businesses. Different aspects of tourism activity can be described by:
    • industry wide statistics;
    • data on service industries (such as accommodation, retail trade, cafes and restaurants, and cultural and recreational services, in which tourism plays an important part);
    • building statistics (e.g. construction of hotels);
    • environmental statistics (e.g. visitors to World Heritage Areas and national and state parks);
    • demographic statistics (e.g. overseas and domestic visitor arrivals);
    • social statistics;
    • economic statistics; and
    • labour statistics and prices.

The contribution of tourism to major economic aggregates, as well as its inter-relationships with other economic activity, is measured in the Australian Tourism Satellite Account (TSA).

The TSA is compiled within a national accounting framework. It includes details by type of visitor, what products were purchased by tourists, and which industries supplied those products. It partitions industries into tourism and non-tourism activities so that the direct contribution of tourism to the economy can be estimated on a consistent basis with traditional industry groupings (Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification divisions) published in ABS statistics, such as agriculture, manufacturing and retail trade.

Tourism GDP is the total market value of Australian produced goods and services consumed by visitors after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production.

Tourism gross value added measures the value of tourism gross output at basic prices (i.e. excluding product taxes such as the GST) by all industries which supply tourism products, less the value of the inputs used in producing these tourism products. This measure is free from distortions in prices caused by changes in tax rates or the introduction of new taxes over time.

Further Reading

Accommodation Industry, Australia (8695.0)
Contains business size, employment, income and expenditure data as well as an historical overview of the accommodation industry.

Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account (5249.0).
Presents estimates of the direct contribution of the tourism industry to the Australian economy within the context of a satellite account linked to the Australian System of National Accounts. It provides users with a macro-economic framework to conduct analyses of tourism impacts on the economy.

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (3401.0)
Provides a summary of monthly data for all movements into and out of Australia, including details of overseas visitors by country of residence, intended length of stay and purpose of journey.

Research Paper No. 6: Tourism’s Indirect Economic Effects 1997-98 (Bureau of Tourism Research, 2001).
Measures the indirect economic effects of tourism in terms of factors such as GDP, value added and employment. It complements the measure of the direct contribution of tourism to the Australian economy provided by the ABS in the Tourism Satellite Account.

Tourist Accommodation, Australia (8635.0)
Contains quarterly data on capacity, occupancy rates and takings for establishments providing short-term accommodation for each state and territory and Australia.

Tourism Indicators, Australia (8634.0)
Contains a range of tourism statistics together with articles on tourism issues.

Tourism Theme Page
Provides summaries and links to ABS products and services, non-ABS sources of tourism information, recent developments, and more.

Travel by Australians: quarterly results of the National Visitor Survey (Bureau of Tourism Research)
Provides quarterly data on the travel patterns and behaviour of Australian residents.



Previous PageNext Page