The Importance of Reforms in the Australian Tourism Industry

This report delves into the Australian tourism industry, examining its evolution and the impact of various reforms. It highlights the industry's significant contribution to the Australian economy, including its role in employment and GDP growth, and its potential for further expansion. The analysis references key articles and data to illustrate trends in tourist arrivals, government spending, and infrastructure development. The report also discusses the 'Tourism 2020' vision, emphasizing the need for continued innovation and investment to achieve the set goals. It concludes with recommendations for stakeholders and policymakers to further support the industry's growth and maximize its economic potential. The report underscores the importance of strategic reforms and investments to ensure the long-term success of the Australian tourism sector.

Running Head: Tourism in Australia
The Importance of Reforms in the Australian Tourism Industry
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The Importance of Reforms in the Australian Tourism Industry
Introduction
The common definition of tourism is the summation of the trips made by the
country’s residents domestically or externally which does not involve immigration. The purpose
for such trips is for business, recreation, health, or study purposes. Tourism in Australia has
undergone a series of development for the last decade (Pc.gov.au, 2015); the various
stakeholders have implemented many reforms while others are underway. In this paper, we shall
find out that there are set goals in which the tourism industry is set to meet after a certain number
of years. For instance there is the tourism 2020 vision set by the Australian government. This
paper will be relevant to the various stakeholders as it will make them develop a sense of
implementing more reforms. Sydney is an Australian global city with facilities best-known in the
world, top-class cultural institutions, new exhibition Centre and international conventions
(Sherry, 2015). Its parks and beaches are fantastic in addition to its wonderful climate. Australia
is growing to be a nation where many visitors want to visit and stay.
Analysis
The following analysis is on an article known as “Australia’s tourism industry needs
innovation and big ideas to continue to grow” written by Ann Sherry in October 2015. She noted
that Australia has been depended for many years on the resource sector to be the major source of
wealth and driver for its economic growth. However, there developed worries in the economy as
this sector started weakening. This weakening was interpreted as an end to the resource boom.
During this period, only a few people had noted the rising importance of the tourism sector as an
importance source of income; this sector had a great potential for growth (Aird, 2017). When
compared to the mining sector, the number of people employed in tourism industry was higher.
In 2013-14, the number of people directly employed in the tourism industry were more than
twice those employed in the mining sector; the mining sector employed under 270,000 whereas
the tourism sector employed over 530,000 persons.
This sector was renowned for experiencing super growth and was projected to add a great
value to the Australian economy. This value was forecasted to be over $250 billion over the next
twenty years. According to Angliss (2015) many people benefit directly; those who don’t enjoys
the indirect growth of the economy attributed to increased tourism spending. Even compared to
coal which is a major export for Australia, the tourism sectors value is still higher; whereas coal

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generated $16.5 by the end of May 2015 compared to the $17 billion from the tourism industry.
The number of businesses supported by the visitor economy is over 90,000 and the
corresponding number of direct jobs are over 150,000.
Fig: Number of tourists arriving in Australia
Source: Tradingeconomics.com (2017)
The trend is showing that there has been growth in the number of tourists flowing to
Australia. The contribution of tourism and visitor economy to the Australian GDP is over $11
billion. The most important reform implemented by the NSW Government on this sector is that
of development of infrastructure that makes navigation in Australia easy and vibrancy. This has
seen much development in the visitor economy (OECD, 2011). Sherry noted that there is more
that need to be done to promote this industry if the tourism 2020 goal is to be achieved;
according to Tourism.australia.com (2017), the goal is to double the overnight spending by the
visitors.

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Fig: Contribution of Australian Tourism to GDP and employment
Source: Hehir (2017)
From 1997 to 2015, the share of Australian tourism to its GDP has fell as observed above. This
behavior is also observed in the share of employment from tourism. However, from 2012
onwards, the percentage is observed to rise for both share to GDP and share of employment. This
is has resulted from the reforms implemented towards developing this tourism industry.
Recommendation
The stakeholders and other policy makers are supposed to introduce various reforms
as this is driving economic growth. The government spending should be increased in this sector
as it is becoming a major source of economic growth. Supporting the growth of the tourism
sector will also help in solving some other challenges facing the Australian economy such as
high rate of unemployment. The government should consider this as an important investment for
growth and ensure that the tourism potential is exploited to the maximum point. The tourist
destination sites should be maintained at good condition so as to make them more attractive to
the tourists.

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Conclusion
With the development on the tourism sector, this sector can be a great source of
Australian economic growth in the future. The reforms implemented earlier has led to increase
revenue generation and thus an indicator for improved performance with additional reforms. This
sector’s potential for growth is very high. The regulation policies on tourism business and its
increased spending is the most crucial driver of its development. The Tourism 2020 goal will be
achieved only through increased investment towards developing this industry.

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References
Aird, H. (2017). Push to update Tasmania's 'outdated' parks and reserve legislation. [Online]
ABC News. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-28/tasmanian-tourism-wants-
national-parks-act-updated/8219790 [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].
Angliss, W. (2015). How Australia’s flourishing tourism industry impacts everyone. [Online]
William Angliss Institute. Available at: https://www.angliss.edu.au/news/232-how-australia-s-
flourishing-tourism-industry-impacts-everyone [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].
Hehir, G. (2017). Strengthening Australia’s Tourism Industry. [Online] Anao.gov.au. Available
at: https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/strengthening-australias-tourism-industry
[Accessed 20 Aug. 2017].
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). Italy: Review of issues and
policies. Paris: OECD.
Pc.gov.au. (2015). Australia's international tourism industry - what role should government
play? [Online] Available at: http://www.pc.gov.au/news-media/pc-news/previous-editions/pc-
news-may-2015/australia-international-tourism-industry [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].
Sherry, A. (2015). Australia’s tourism industry needs innovation and big ideas to continue to
grow. [Online] Dailytelegraph.com.au. Available at:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australias-tourism-industry-needs-innovation-and-
big-ideas-to-continue-to-grow/news-story/53078ef6405ad0c433612722c6fdbde7 [Accessed 19
Aug. 2017].
Tourism.australia.com. (2017). Tourism 2020. [Online] Available at:
http://www.tourism.australia.com/en/about/our-organisation/our-performance-and-reporting/
tourism-2020.html [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].
Tradingeconomics.com. (2017). Australia Tourist Arrivals. [Online] Tradingeconomics.com.
Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/tourist-arrivals [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].