TA China marketing spend to increase
Tourism Australia will be increasing its marketing budget for China, as well as fighting off efforts by the United States to take a slice of this lucrative and fast-growing sector.
About 30% of Tourism Australia’s international marketing budget goes on campaigns to attract Chinese visitors, with this figure set to sky rocket over the next 12 months. Tourism Australia’s executive general manager of marketing, Nick Baker, said China was a massive growth market with an increase of about 23% expected in visitor arrivals over the next year.
Mr Baker warned Australia could face tough competition from the US after president Barack Obama promoted the importance of tourism and incentives to encourage tourists from China.
”That’s a massive threat to us if America gets their act together on this,” Mr Baker said. ”Look at places like California, they’re a massive competitor for us.”
China is Australia’s most valuable international travel market, worth $3.3 billion in 2010. Last year, Tourism Australia released its China 2020 Strategic Plan, which aims to lift outbound trips from China to 860,000 visitors annually by 2020, worth around $9.5 billion.
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