Visitor Drought Hits Home
Paul Maley
Article from: The Australian
March 07, 2009
A SLUMP in business travellers, tourists and overseas workers threatens to deliver a new shock to Australia's economy, already facing sharply lower commodities exports and the international credit crunch.
New figures reveal a sharp drop in international visitors coming to Australia, with business travellers, tourists and temporary skilled migrants staying away as corporations cut costs and tourists stay closer to home.
Immigration Department figures obtained by The Weekend Australian show the number of business visas fell 30 per cent in January compared with the same period last year, and that temporary skilled migrant visas have dropped by 33per cent since September.
The slump in inbound visitors came as the latest national accounts figures showed gross domestic product fell 0.5per cent in the December quarter as sharp declines in the financial position of Australia's trading partners put the economy into reverse.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Greg Evans said business travel tended to be one of the first items targeted as companies looked to cut costs. Bookings in the convention market had already dropped since December.
In signs that local businesses were abandoning the controversial 457 visa scheme, the Immigration Department recorded a 16 per cent drop in the number of visas issued last month, down to 4070 from 4830 in January.
Mr Evans said the 457 program was demand-driven and provided a good barometer of local confidence.
Industry groups fear the decline in tourist numbers, while modest, could be the harbinger of a much sharper drop.
Tourism Australia managing director Geoff Buckley said his organisation had already forecast a 4.5 per cent drop in tourist numbers for this year.
Further downward revisions were possible as Australia's main tourism markets braced for worsening economic conditions, Mr Buckley said.
“The global economy is sliding down so that (forecast) may have to be readjusted,” Mr Buckley told The Weekend Australian.
“We're fairly sure Australian tourism has not yet seen the worst of it.”
Tourist numbers for January were artificially inflated by the fact that the Chinese New Year celebrations were held in that month, resulting in a spike in international visitor numbers as people sought out their relatives, Mr Buckley said.
Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said the ABS figures confirmed the industry was facing an uncertain year, with the global financial crisis leading to fewer people travelling.
“This is a global phenomenon affecting all countries, and neither Australia, nor our tourism industry, is alone,” Mr Ferguson said.
“The good news within the ABS stats is that fewer Australians are presently travelling internationally.
“Domestic tourism contributes around 75 per cent of the Australian tourism sector's business, and today's statistics are consistent with the anecdotal evidence of recent months suggesting Australians have chosen to holiday at home this summer.”
However, the one category of overseas visitor to hold up was international students, whose numbers remained at record highs.
Education Minister Julia Gillard announced last month that overseas enrolments had risen a record 20.7 per cent to 543,898 last year.
Revenues from overseas students contributed $14.2 billion to the economy in 2007-08, making it Australia's third-largest export earner.
A University of Sydney spokeswoman said there had been a “strong increase” in international students. “The numbers have increased by approximately 15 per cent,” the spokeswoman told The Weekend Australian.
“The university is also particularly pleased with the strong increase in PhD students. PhD acceptances are up by around 40 per cent.”
In January, a total of 28,621 business visas were issued. That compared with 41,091 in January last year and 35,903 in January 2007.
The Rudd Government has all but guaranteed it will cut Australia's record high immigration quota in the May budget in response to the rapidly deteriorating global economy.
During Senate estimates hearings in Canberra last month, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the Government's priority was to protect local jobs.
'We want to make sure … our skilled persons have access to those job opportunities first, and that migration continues to meet the shortfalls in the skills areas where we need them,” Senator Evans said.
The Immigration Department figures reflected Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers released yesterday, which showed that overall short-term visitors to Australia declined by 3.8 per cent in January compared with a year earlier.
Short-term arrivals are defined as people coming to Australia for less than 12 months.
They include tourists, business travellers and students.
But while fewer people are coming to Australia, fewer are leaving.
According to the ABS, the number of short-term departures for January was just 0.3 per cent up on January the previous year.
That compared with an 11.6 per cent increase on January 2007 and an 8.4 per cent spike on January 2006.
Figures from the Department of Immigration showed that the number of tourist visas issued in January was down by about 8per cent compared with January last year.
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Your Comments:
7 Comment(s)
Offshore Skilled Visa of Sydney 5:42pm today
in australia we are looking for skilled person according to my knowledge there are skilled workers at a large scale in India. And i think india is the first country who is giving the student export business to australia at a highest rate and which is helping to australia to make stronger its economic status.I was talking about the skilled worker, according to DIMIA rules if the person has to apply for his skilled visa then he/she should have a particular qualificateion from recognised institute by the government and after that 4 or 5 year experience is also must. I am agree to this point. But what about the persons who has experienced of 4, 5 years but are not having the qualification. Does it means that they cant do their job??. Or they cant speak or write english?. or what if the candidates are doing the job in skill category from a long time and then after that they complete their study from an institute.?(two or three years). I think Australian government should take steps to these points, i think this is better to give permanent residency to a person having more experience then the 900 hours experience. And one thing more i would like to say about the visa application results. I know two of my friends applied for permanent residency from india it took a time of more than a year. I think this is also the reason in decreasment in the percentage of visa of skilled categories to australia than previous years……. Sunil kumar
Neil Bishop of Singapore (ex-Brisbane) 4:49pm March 07, 2009
Some other things to consider: it is so difficult to get even a tourist visa from Australia for citizens of many countries. My girlfriend (and soon to be fiance) is from the Philippines. We're both debt-free professionals but for her to get a tourist visa is so difficult and time-consuming so we're taking our holidays in Hong Kong and Thailand instead. Surely we could introduce a bond-secured tourist visa that can be applied for over the internet regardless of what country a person is from (with a few exceptions, of course)? Maybe that would help plus it would actually send a message that tourists are welcome… which is a not a message any of our international airports are designed to convey.
Neil Bishop of Singapore (ex-Brisbane) 4:49pm March 07, 2009
Some other things to consider: it is so difficult to get even a tourist visa from Australia for citizens of many countries. My girlfriend (and soon to be fiance) is from the Philippines. We're both debt-free professionals but for her to get a tourist visa is so difficult and time-consuming so we're taking our holidays in Hong Kong and Thailand instead. Surely we could introduce a bond-secured tourist visa that can be applied for over the internet regardless of what country a person is from (with a few exceptions, of course)? Maybe that would help plus it would actually send a message that tourists are welcome… which is a not a message any of our international airports are designed to convey.
Rob of Sydney 1:30pm March 07, 2009
The number of overseas students coming to Australia to do 2 year courses like commercial cookery to enable them to apply for Permanent Residency onshore after completion should be revised. There has been an explosion in numbers of these students as they see it as an opportunity to gain residency quickly and cheaply. If this is left unchecked, Australia would be left with too many cooks. With the current economic climate, I am not sure if these numbers are at sustainable.
oldgrumpyone of ACT 12:31pm March 07, 2009
Not only does Australia, unless many other countries, requires visitors to apply for an entry visa, we also charge a very high fee for visas, including tourist visa. Why do we have to do that ?
Frank 9:24am March 07, 2009
What do you expect! It will be a good thing if there are fewer 457's and immigrants in general. There are too many people here now. We should be looking to get rid of some.
Tony Darvo of MT Druitt 9:21am March 07, 2009
We are experiencing Deflation after that -(hyper)Inflation then Depression – G8 next month = offer solution! A new world Bank + World Govt = Slavery! Wake up Sheep!!Rudd is Lying 2u.
