Australia's links at a regional levelDomestic tourism is a major contributor to the Australian economy, with domestic day and overnight visitors spending large sums of money on accommodation, food and shopping during their travels. Regional tourism benefits considerably from domestic tourism activity as domestic visitors are more likely to travel to regional Australia than international visitors. This report provides information on domestic tourism activity at a regional level including the collection of expenditure information from domestic day and overnight visitors.
Tourism contributes significantly to employment, with 513, 000 persons in tourism-generated employment in 2003-04. This represents 6% of total employed persons. The largest numbers of persons in tourism-generated employment were in retail trade (27%), followed by accommodation (18%), and cafes and restaurants (9%).
Culture is portrayed to be a major determinant in the attractiveness of a destination for tourists and may provide and opportunity for small communities, e.g. Aborigines, to develop a strong economic base.
English: Tourists riding a bactrian camel (Camelus...
English: Sydney Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay,...
English: Hunter Valley Panorama, mfunnell, stitche...Australia's links at a global levelAustralia's cultural links to its region are reflected in the number of Australians travelling overseas and, in turn, the thousands of overseas tourists visiting Australia each year. Australia receives roughly 0.6% of the world's tourists, with tourism being its single largest source of foreign exchange dollars. Tourism contributes 10.5% to the GDP and employs 12% of the Australian workforce. The Asia-Pacific region is Australia's fastest growing source of tourists with significant increases of tourists over the period 2004-2005. These sources include China with an increase of 27%, Hong Kong 13%, and South Korea and Taiwan 10% over the same period. Japan is its single largest tourism market, generating $2.06 billion in revenue in 2004. Tourist numbers from Europe have also increased, predominantly from the United Kingdom but also from Italy, France and Ireland with significant increases. On average, three out...