Tourism Australia's ad campaign lifted tourist spending by $2 billion but not visitor numbers.
Tourism Australia's ad campaign lifted tourist spending by $2 billion but not visitor numbers.
KEY POINTS:
The controversial "So where the bloody hell are you?" travel campaign has been credited with netting Australia an extra A$1.8 billion ($2.04 billion) in tourism dollars last year.
In the year since the advertising campaign was launched, tourist spending topped A$14 billion.
However the windfall was due toincreased spending and longer stays rather than a massive boost in tourist numbers, which the Australian Tourism Council says is a cause for concern.
Tourism Australia said the results indicated the advertising campaign was meeting its primary objectives of increasing tourism spending and the amount of time tourists spend in the country.
Tourism Australia chairman Tim Fischer said the results would not have been as strong if the campaign was not controversial.
"If in fact it had not been a controversial campaign, we suspect that the numbers of tourists would not have held up and tourism spending would have decreased."
According to the latest statistics, the average time tourists spent in Australia increased by 3.6 nights or 14 per cent on the previous year, with backpackers spending A$482 million more than the previous year.
Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said the results demonstrated the campaign was beginning to cut through.
"Backpackers injected A$2.8 billion in Australia last year; this is money directly spent in local shops, pubs and hotels," Bailey said.
"Backpackers also visit throughout Australia, injecting millions into regional communities."
The Australian Tourism Council said that while it appeared Tourism Australia's aims in attracting higher-spending, longer-staying visitors were paying off, the lack of growth in market share was a concern.
Council managing director Matthew Hingerty said Australia had not increased its market share at a time when international travel globally was growing at its fastest rate ever.
"Good marketing campaigns, while important, will not work if we don't have industry and government commitment to developing the products and experiences visitors are looking for and the infrastructure to support them."
