The trend is revealed in the March Quarter National Visitor Survey results compiled by Tourism Research Australia. They show that overnight domestic trips for the year ending March 2010 fell by 2.7 per cent, with visitor nights down 1.3% and spending 0.2% lower compared to the previous 12 months.
Brett Gale, executive director of the national industry body, Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) said the number of overnight domestic trips taken by Australians had fallen by 23% on a per capita basis since 1999.
The figures continued a longer-term trend, he said.
“Domestic overnight visitor numbers have fallen from 72.9 million for the year ending March 1999 to 66 million in the year ending March 2010, a drop of 9.4 per cent.
“That’s despite the Australian population growing by 3.2 million people – or 17% – over the corresponding period.
“It means Australians are effectively taking one fewer domestic holiday each year, with the number of trips per person falling from 3.9 each year to 3.
Gales said that in recent years, Australians had been travelling overseas in growing numbers, attracted by low airfares and the strong Australian dollar.
“This shows the challenge facing tourism marketing agencies which are up against competition from hundreds of international destinations, many of which are targeting Australians due to the relative strength of the national economy.
“The ongoing slide in domestic tourism clearly shows the need for the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy to be well-funded and backed by industry.
“It’s vital that it addresses supply side issues to ensure that Australia can compete with other countries for Australians’ tourism dollars, as well as attracting international visitors.
“We also need to continue to properly fund state tourism and major events organisations, which play a key role in marketing domestic tourism.”
Edited by : Peter Needham
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