Australia’s tourism industry is at a turning point, argues new report

Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine has unveiled a spotlight on tourism in the latest State of the Nation Report. Key findings of this in-depth industry spotlight include:

• The end of the ‘Commodities Boom’: an economic shock but also a golden opportunity for industries such as Tourism if they play their cards right
• Our increasingly progressive and multicultural society: how it is influencing our travel outlook and destination preference
• The Digital Disruption: how the extraordinary extent of automation and variable pricing of everything from hotel room to airline seats to media is impacting the very essence of the industry
• Standing out in the changing media landscape: competing with an ever-increasing cacophony of digital and smartphone distractions for the consumer’s attention…not to mention the five-second challenge of TV advertising
• The international context: how in-bound and out-bound travel will continue to be affected by worldwide factors such as exchange rates, global unrest, engagement with Asia, Consumer Confidence, and the price of oil
• Which sectors of the tourism industry have changed the most and which have stayed the same? Trends in airlines, travel agents, destinations, holiday activities, accommodation, and transport are all examined in detail.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, said:

“Australia’s tourism industry is at a turning point. Having adapted to the enormous challenges thrown at it by digital technology and globalisation, it is currently the country’s fifth-most valuable export industry. But as the commodities boom fades and the nation reassesses its assets, Tourism stands to become our most valuable ‘New Age’ export industry.

“The current State of the Nation tracks the major trends in tourism and travel over the last decade, exploring the role of global and national economic, societal and technological factors in the changing face of the industry.

“It also considers the question on everyone’s lips: How will Australia fare in the new, increasingly competitive environment of travel and tourism?”