One in two Aussies to travel overseas each year

• by: By Angela Saurine
• From: news.com.au
• February 10, 2012 12:24PM 

THE equivalent of half the Australian population is predicted to take an overseas trip each year by 2017 as the love affair with international travel continues. 
 
At the moment, the equivalent of 30 per cent of Australians travels overseas a year - fuelled by the strong Australian dollar and cheap airfares.

But a new report said the figure may rise to 50 per cent by 2016-17.

The Tourism in Australia IBISWorld Industry Report said Australian tourism was a $94.7 billion industry that has fallen on tough times.

The global financial crisis resulted in international travellers from traditional markets staying home, while record numbers of Aussies take advantage of the high dollar to head overseas.

IBIS World's senior analyst Ian MacGowan said domestic tourism will continue to struggle, with Australians only taking day trips and weekend getaways locally and heading overseas for longer breaks.

"For the last 30 years the majority of travel for international airlines has been travellers coming in to Australia, but now the largest market is Australians heading overseas,'' he said.

"There's a massive turnaround.

"Airfares are so much cheaper than they were 10 or 15 years ago and the tourism industry has developed quite significantly, especially in places like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.''

Domestic tourism accounts for more than 65 per cent of industry revenue, and while it returned to growth last year, it remains well below 2007-08 levels.

Although the economic downturn and continuing economic turmoil in Europe and North America led to less tourists from these regions, they have been offset by increased visitor numbers from Asia.

Australia will continue to lose its share of the global international traveller market as many new destinations emerge, the repord said.

China has become one of Australia's most valuable markets after surpassing the previously lucrative Japanese market in visitor numbers, nights stayed and dollars spent.

In 2011, the high value of the Australian dollar, cheap airfares and packages led to a record number of Australians heading overseas for holidays and this is expected to continue this year.

Mr McGowan said Australian tourist operators will need to change to cater to new markets.

"The Chinese market in particular is dominated by a lot of package deals so if you're not part of this supply you could miss out,'' he said.