Australia looks to China for tourism revenue boost

Listing Chinese tourists as its most important clients across the Asian market in the next 10 years, Tourism Australia aims to double its total tourism revenue from A$70 billion ($67 billion) in June 2011 to A$140 billion by the end of 2020.

According to Tourism Australia, Asia is expected to contribute more than half of the projected growth in international visitors with 42 percent of that growth expected to come from China.

"In 2011, the number of Chinese visitors (to Australia) grew by 20 percent, exceeding half million in a single year for the first time," said Australian Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson on June 4. "China is also Australia's most valuable inbound tourism market, contributing over A$3.2 billion to Australia's economy in 2011."

Even though China ranks third after New Zealand and the United Kingdom in terms of the number of visitors, Chinese travelers are the most generous spenders, according to Huang Changqing, Tourism Australia's regional director for Greater China.

"China represents the opportunity to deliver around 900,000 annual visitors worth up to A$9 billion for Australia by 2020," said Huang.

To fulfill its ambitious "10-year plan", the Australian government will spend an estimated A$180 million over the next three years in key international and domestic markets for the media campaign alone. The total budget will be A$250 million, with A$70 coming from industry partners.