Ahead of the Curve – Weaker A$, Cheaper Petrol Boon for Domestic Tourism
15 January 2019
Australians have long been outbound travellers traditionally, but recently, stay-cations – vacations near home rather than overseas – have become more popular in 2018 and expected to stay that way in 2019 and beyong, according to a recent study.
Domestic tourism is picking up faster than outbound travel, As petrol prices hit a 15-month low in capital cities. People are more inclined to have roadtrips domestically, rather than seeing their purchasing power wiped off by up to 10% by the weaker exchange rate.
At the same time, the dropping Australian dollar has attracted more overseas visitors to Australia. The fact that the Australian dollar has fallen about 10 per cent against the greenback this year is certainly helping the tourism sector – Australia attracted a record 1.4 million tourists from China in 2018, up 5.4 per cent from 2017, according to Commsec. Fears of a trade war between the US and China also means Chinese tourists are choosing to spend their dollars in Australia instead.
Australia has become an attractive destination for foreigners, as opposed to them going to the US because of concerns around political uncertainty, the government shut down and the strengthening US dollar.
Australia has also welcomed more Indian tourists than ever before, with 350,000 Indian visitors in 2018, an increase of 18.3 per cent from 2017. There were also record visitor numbers from Belgium, France, India, Canada and Chile in October 2018.
First Choice has long been a major force in the Melbourne hotel/motel market, facilitating numerous transactions over the years. We firmly believe in the strong fundamentals of the sector and will continue to strive for excellence in helping our valued clients.
