5249.0 - Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, 2012-13 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/12/2013   
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ANALYSIS OF RESULTS


KEY RESULTS
Flow Chart: Flow of tourism consumption through the Australian economy.


Tourism is not an industry or product in international statistical standards but it is commonly considered an industry by tourism researchers and economic analysts. In the Australian Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), the direct contribution of the tourism industry to the Australian economy has been measured using the demand generated by visitors and the supply of tourism products by domestic producers.

Graph Image for Selected tourism aggregates

Internal tourism consumption is the total value of goods and services consumed by both resident and non-resident visitors within Australia. It is measured in purchasers' prices (the price paid by the tourism consumer). From 2011-12 to 2012-13 internal tourism consumption increased by 4.0% from $105,813m to $109,993m. Net taxes on tourism products includes all net taxes on tourism consumption, including tourism net taxes on tourism products (which in the case of goods, only include net taxes attributable to retail trade activities) and net taxes on indirect tourism output (i.e. net taxes attributable to the non-retail margins on goods). Only tourism net taxes on tourism products are included in tourism GDP, which in 2012-13 increased by 2.6% to $3,472m.

Imported goods and services consumed by visitors are not part of domestic production by Australian industries. The cost to retailers of imported goods sold directly to visitors decreased by 1.5% from $6,957m in 2011-12 to $6,850m in 2012-13. Over the same period, internal tourism consumption at basic prices (internal tourism consumption at purchasers' prices less imports and net taxes on tourism products) increased by 4.4% to $94,430m.

In the case of retail goods purchased by visitors, only the retail margin contributes to direct tourism output, value added and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is because it is deemed that only the retailer has a direct relationship with the visitor and is therefore part of the tourism industry. Direct tourism output is therefore equal to internal tourism consumption at basic prices less the cost to retailers of domestic goods sold directly to visitors. From 2011-12 to 2012-13, direct tourism output increased by 3.5% to $76,437m.

When producing tourism goods and services Australian businesses use goods and services produced and supplied by other businesses. These are known as intermediate inputs and increased by 3.1% from $36,505m in 2011-12 to $37,654m in 2012-13.


DIRECT TOURISM GROSS VALUE ADDED

Direct tourism gross value added is equal to the value of tourism output at basic prices minus the value of tourism intermediate consumption at purchasers' prices. Basic prices valuation of output removes the distortion caused by variations in the incidence of product taxes and subsidies across the output of individual industries.

From 2011-12 to 2012-13 direct tourism gross value added increased by 3.8% to $38,783m. Gross value added for all industries increased by 2.2% to $1,423,181m over the same period. Tourism share of gross value added remained stable at 2.7% in 2012-13. It should be noted that gross value added for all industries includes both tourism and non-tourism value added.

Graph Image for Growth in industry, gross value added, current prices


DIRECT TOURISM GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Direct tourism GDP is calculated by adding tourism net taxes on tourism products to direct tourism gross value added. In the case of goods, tourism net taxes on tourism products will only include the net taxes attributable to retail trade activities. From 2011-12 to 2012-13 direct tourism GDP increased by 3.7% to $42,255m, a larger increase than GDP for the Australian economy which grew by 2.4%.

In 2012-13 the tourism share of GDP slightly increased to 2.8%, up from 2.7% in 2011-12. Over the length of the TSA time series (1997-98 to 2012-13), tourism's share of GDP reached a peak of 3.5% in 2000-01. While the peak in 2000-01 was heavily impacted by price increases in tourism services, resulting from the introduction of the GST and the volume impact of the Olympic Games, the overall trend of declining share has continued over a long period.

Direct tourism GDP is also calculated by type of visitor, i.e. the contribution of domestic visitors (also split by households and business and government visitors) and international visitors. In 2012-13, household visitors contributed 59.7% of direct tourism GDP, up from 59.0% in 2011-12. International visitors contributed 27.0%, up slightly from 26.7% in 2011-12. The contribution of business and government visitors to direct tourism GDP fell from 14.4% in 2011-12 to 13.3% in 2012-13. General reductions in government business travel may have contributed to this fall.


COMPONENTS OF TOURISM INDUSTRY GROSS VALUE ADDED

Accommodation; Air, water and other transport; Other retail trade; and Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services continue to be the most significant tourism related industries. Combined, these industries account for 57.1% of direct tourism gross value added in 2012-13.

The figure below compares the contribution to tourism gross value added by selected industry divisions between 1997-98 (the beginning of the TSA time series) and 2012-13. In 2012-13, the following industry divisions were the most significant contributors to tourism gross value added: Accommodation and Food Services (34.5%); Transport, postal and warehousing (21.1%); Retail trade (13.9%); Ownership of dwellings (8.7%); and Education and training (6.3%).

Graph Image for Contribution to tourism value added, selected industry divisions

From 2011-12 to 2012-13, direct tourism gross value added increased by $1,429m (3.8%) to $38,783m, driven by strong growth across a number of tourism related industries. The tourism related industries representing the largest contributors to the increase in tourism gross value added in this period were: Accommodation (up $314m, 4.8%); Ownership of dwellings (up $218m, 6.9%); Other retail trade (up $191m, 3.8%); Air, water and other transport (up $133m, 2.3%); and Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (up $65m, 1.6%).

Graph Image for Growth in tourism value added, selected tourism related industries


COMPONENTS OF TOURISM CONSUMPTION

For 2012-13, domestic tourism consumption represented 75.5% of total tourism consumption, whereas international consumption represented 24.5%.

Internal tourism consumption increased by 4.0% to $109,993m in 2012-13, following a larger increase of 6.2% in 2011-12. Domestic tourism consumption increased by 3.4% to $83,031m. International tourism consumption increased by 5.7% to $26,962m in 2012-13, which is the strongest annual growth rate since 2006-07 when it increased by 7.3%.

Graph Image for Growth in domestic and international tourism consumption

In terms of tourism related products, the major contributors to the increase in domestic tourism consumption in this period were: Food (up $363m, 7.2%); Accommodation services (up $356m, 4.1%); Fuel (up $356m, 3.7%); Shopping, gifts and souvenirs (up $284m, 2.7%); and Other tourism goods and services (up $263m, 14.2%). Reduced levels of domestic tourism consumption were only recorded for Gambling and betting services (down $62m, -6.0% from 2011-12).

Domestic tourism consumption by Household and Business/ Government

The $2,728m increase in domestic tourism consumption in 2012-13 consisted of a $3,095m (4.7%) increase in consumption by households and a $366m (-2.6%) decrease in consumption by business and government. The fall in business and government consumption was mainly attributed to falls in consumption of: Accommodation (down $316m, -8.4%); Long distance passenger transportation (down $168m, -3.8%); and Takeaway and restaurant meals (down $136m, -7.4%). The contribution of domestic business/government tourism consumption to total internal tourism consumption decreased from 13.4% in 2011-12 to 12.6% in 2012-13.

Changes in household disposable income are considered a key indicator of household consumption behaviour. The graph below presents a comparison of growth in household disposable income and household tourism consumption since 2004-05.

Graph Image for Growth in household tourism consumption and disposable income

Domestic tourism consumption by Same day and Overnight visitors

Between 2011-12 and 2012-13 tourism consumption for same day visitors increased by $681m (3.6%), after a substantial increase of $1,901m (11.3%) the previous year. Similarly, overnight visitor consumption increased by $2,047m (3.3%), representing 75.0% of the total increase in domestic tourism consumption.

Graph Image for Growth in same day and overnight domestic consumption

In terms of tourism related products, the major contributors to total tourism consumption continue to be: Long distance passenger transportation; Takeaway and restaurant meals; Shopping, gifts and souvenirs; and Accommodation services. Combined, these products contributed 55.4% of total tourism consumption in 2012-13.

SHARE OF TOURISM CONSUMPTION, selected tourism products, by type of visitor: 2012-13

Households
Business/ government
International
All visitors
%
%
%
%

Long distance passenger transportation
10.5
30.9
21.0
15.7
Takeaway and restaurant meals
17.7
12.4
10.3
15.2
Shopping, gifts and souvenirs
15.5
-
12.0
12.7
Accommodation services
8.2
24.9
14.2
11.8
Fuel (petrol, diesel)
12.2
10.6
1.9
9.5
Food products
7.3
2.5
7.9
6.8
Alcoholic beverages and other beverages
4.5
3.0
4.4
4.3
Imputed and actual rent on dwellings
5.2
-
3.3
4.0
All other tourism products
18.9
15.6
24.9
19.9
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)



INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN TOURISM

Tourism exports are domestically produced goods and services consumed by international visitors to Australia. Tourism imports are consumption of overseas produced goods and services by Australians on overseas trips. Since 2004-05 tourism imports have exceeded tourism exports, resulting in deficits in the tourism balance of trade (tourism exports less tourism imports). In 2012-13 the deficit totalled $5,160m, compared with a deficit of $6,646m in 2011-12.

Graph Image for International trade in tourism

Despite the trade deficit, tourism makes an important contribution to Australia's total export earnings. Total tourism characteristic products compare favourably with some other Australian 'traditional' export products. Whilst the contribution of tourism to total exports has fallen from 11.5% in 2004-05 to 8.9% in 2012-13, in current price terms the value of these exports (international visitor consumption) has grown from $19,167m to $26,962m. In 2012-13 tourism made a slightly higher contribution to Australia's export earnings than food and live animals, although it made a significantly smaller contribution than key mining exports such as iron ore and concentrates and coal, coke and briquettes. These mining exports have experienced much higher growth rates over the period 2004-05 to 2012-13.

Graph Image for Selected export products, as a percentage of total exports


TOURISM EMPLOYED PERSONS

Tourism is an important source of employment in Australia, accounting for 4.7% of total employed persons in the economy in 2012-13. Tourism's share of total employment is greater than its share of gross value added (2.7%). This is because tourism tends to be more labour-intensive than, on average, other forms of economic activity. The tourism industry employed 543,600 persons in 2012-13, an increase of 11,400 (2.1%) on 2011-12. This compares with an increase of 1.2% in total employed persons in the Australian economy (which is inclusive of tourism and non-tourism employed persons).

Graph Image for Selected industries, as a percentage of total employed persons 2012-13

In 2012-13, 45.6% of total tourism employed persons were part-time. This compares with the economy wide proportion of part-time workers of 29.7%. This equates to tourism contributing 7.2% of total part-time employed persons in 2012-13. Only four other industries had a higher share of total part-time employed persons in 2012-13.

Graph Image for Selected industries, as a percentage of full-time and part-time employed persons 2012-13

In 2012-13, tourism had 295,600 full-time employed persons, which accounted for 54.4% of tourism employment. Tourism had a lower relative share of full-time employed persons (3.6%) than twelve other industries (out of a total of nineteen industries).

Graph Image for Selected industries, as a percentage of male and female employed persons 2012-13

This publication also presents a split of tourism employed persons into male and female workers. In 2012-13, females accounted for 292,700 tourism employed persons, or 53.8% of the tourism workforce. Tourism accounted for 5.5% of total female workers in 2012-13. In 2012-13, males accounted for 250,900 tourism employed persons (46.2% of tourism workforce), or 4.0% of total male employment.


TOURISM HOURS WORKED

In 2012-13, total tourism hours worked grew by 1.0%, compared with 0.4% for the economy as a whole. Growth in tourism hours worked was spread across a number of tourism related industries, with growth in hours worked in Sports and recreational services strongest at 6.2%, while hours worked in Travel agency and tour operator services had the largest fall in percentage terms of 5.5%.


VISITOR NUMBERS

Same day domestic visitors in 2012-13 decreased by 0.6%. Despite this, average consumption by same day visitors increased by 4.3% from $110.8 in 2011-12 to $115.5 in 2012-13. The increase in tourism consumption by overnight domestic visitors (up 3.3%) was the result of an increase in the number of visitors (up 2.6%) combined with an increase in average consumption by overnight visitors (from $839.6 in 2011-12 to $845.6 in 2012-13, an increase of 0.7%).

Graph Image for Growth in same day and overnight visitor numbers

The increase in international tourism consumption in 2012-13 (up 5.7%) was the result of an increase in the number of visitors (up 4.9%) combined with an increase in average consumption by international visitors (up 0.8%). The overall increase in the number of international visitors to Australia was driven by gains in the number of visitors from: China (up 17.4%); United States of America (up 6.0%); Singapore (up 13.5%); and Taiwan (up 12.4%). In 2012-13, visitors numbers from the United States of America reached 492,200, their highest level since the Sydney Olympics in 2000 (when there were 502,000 visitors).

Overall, International visitors to Australia spent an average of $4,298 per trip in 2012-13.

Graph Image for Growth in international and domestic visitor numbers

The number of Australians travelling overseas grew by 4.9% in 2012-13, with the growth driven by increased number of Australians visiting the United States of America, Japan and Singapore.

The 4.9% growth in Australians travelling overseas in 2012-13 followed three years of strong growth of 15.9% in 2009-10, 9.9% in 2010-11 and 8.0% in 2011-12. Cumulatively, since 2008-09, the numbers of Australians travelling overseas increased by 2.593m (from 5.843m in 2008-09 to 8.436m in 2012-13) or 44.4%. This growth coincided with a strengthening in the Australian exchange rate, which after a significant fall against other currencies (as measured by the Trade Weighted Index) in the first seven months of 2008-09, increased by 34.2% between January 2009 and June 2013.

While Australians' outbound tourism consumption is excluded from tourism consumption and tourism GDP, that part of the trip which is spent domestically before or after the trip, or on Australian resident airline carriers, is included in domestic tourism consumption. The strong growth in the number of Australians taking overseas tourism trips in the past decade has seen the contribution of domestic outbound tourism consumption rise from 5.6% of domestic overnight expenditure in 2004-05 to 9.7% in 2012-13.

Graph Image for Growth in Australian resident departures and the Trade Weighted Index