Tourism Investment in Australia: A Report on Decision Support Tools

This report explores tourism investment opportunities in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Australia: Melbourne LGA in Victoria and Camden LGA in New South Wales. It highlights the significant tourism interest and appropriate transport facilities in both locations, which are the minimum criteria for a potential tourist destination development including a ‘Big’ tourist attraction, motel, café and a souvenir shop. Melbourne boasts over 130 tourist attractions, a well-developed transport network, and a high volume of local and international visitors, while Camden benefits from Sydney's infrastructure and experiences rapid population growth. The report also identifies the need for additional statistical information, such as purchasing parity of tourists, to further refine investment decisions. The analysis supports the idea of developing a tourist destination in either of these LGAs and emphasizes the potential for a strong return on investment in the tourism sector.

Decision Support Tools: Tourism
Investment in 2 select LGAs
APRIL 5, 2018
BY:

There are 537 LGAs in Australia. This research focuses on two main Local
Government Areas (LGAs) where tourism is experiencing phenomenal growth.
Introduction
1. Melbourne LGA in Victoria
2. Camden LGA in New South Wales
A general overview of tourism in Australia
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2015), Australia received 7.4
million visitors in the year 2015 and ranked number 40 worldwide for top tourist
attractions. The Department of Foreign affairs and Trade [DFAT] (2017), documents
that tourism contributed $130 Billion to the economy and provided employment
opportunities for over 4.9% of the total workforce and contributed 3.2% of the GDP.

1. MELBOURNE LGA
1. Tourist attraction. There are over 130 tourist attraction sites of interest in Melbourne. Just to
mention, Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and was voted the World friendliest city in
the year 2014 (Gebicki, 2017).
Type of tourist attraction Count
Sights and landmarks 130
Museums 60
Nature parks 86
Concerts 45
Zoos 4
Water amusement parks 3
Shopping centers 134
2.Transport facilities for tourists
Adequately served by both public and private transport infrastructure. It has the world’s largest and
most elaborate tram network covering over 250 kilometers. The city also boasts the second largest
railway network in Australia. There are over 300 bus routes covering the entire LGA. Two Airports,
Taxis and, Motorcycle Hire Services.
3. Local and international customers: Fourth position for the most rapidly growing population.
It had a growth rate of 136,336. It also receives approximately 2million international visitors
4 Hotel and Accommodation: hotel and accommodation services in Melbourne LGA are far outstripped.
Given that there are 57 million visits both local and international visits annually

2. CAMDEN LGA
1.Tourist attractions : Camden LGA in NSW state promises excellent Return on Investment in tourism.
Benefiting from the elaborate Sydney infrastructure, it boasts over 24 tourist attractions such as wildlife
viewing, hot air balloon tours, water sports activities, and shopping centers.
Tourist Attraction Count
Nature parks 3
Landmarks 2
Water Sports Sites 1
Museum 1
Fitness and Wellness
Centers
2
Private tours 4
2. Transport facilities
Camden LGA benefits from sophisticated public transportation including trains and buses run by the
NSW Government. The LGA is also served by 6 elaborate main roads that include Camden bypass,
Bringelly Road, and Narellan Road, Taxis, Boats and motorcycles.
3. Local and international Customers
According to Australian Government. Austrade (2016), Camden received 294,378-night visitors and
521,329-day visitors in 2016. Its experiencing the second highest population growth rate nationally.
4. Hotel and Accommodation
There are 7 main hotel and catering centers and one shopping center. This makes the LGA very attractive
for setting up a hotel and gift centre.

The purchasing parity of tourists in Australia's LGA would have
been useful in enabling the identification of hotspot areas with the
highest potential for investment. This information was however
not available at the time of report preparation.
Additional statistical information needed

REFERENCES
Allan, G. (2017). Australia’s top 20 fastest growing areas | .id blog. .id blog. Retrieved 3 April
2018, from https://blog.id.com.au/2017/population/population-trends/australias-top-20-fastest-
growing-areas/
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). 8635.0 - Tourist Accommodation, Australia, 2015-
16.Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8635.0/
Australian Government. Austrade. (2018). Tourism Research Australia - Tourism Region
Profiles.Tra.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from
https://www.tra.gov.au/tra/2016/Tourism_Region_Profiles/Region_profiles/index.html
Australian Government.Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2018). International tourism
engagement. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from
http://dfat.gov.au/trade/services-and-digital-trade/Pages/international-tourism-engagement.aspx
Camden Council. (2018). Traffic and Transport » Camden Council. Camden.nsw.gov.au.
Retrieved 3 April 2018, from https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/resident-information/traffic-and-
transport/
Gebicki, M. (2017). Where did everyone go? The world's most visited destinations announced.
Traveler. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from http://www.traveller.com.au/the-worlds-most-visited-
destinations-2017-mastercard-release-asia-pacific-destination-index-gwh634

REFERENCES CNTD…..
The Hotel Conversation. (2017). Savills release Australia’s Hotels market report March
2017Retrieved 3 April 2018, from https://www.thehotelconversation.com.au
/news/2017/03/31/savills-release-australia’s-hotels-market-report-march-2017/1490928094
Tripadvisor. (2018). The 10 Best Things to Do in Melbourne - 2018 (with Photos) -
TripAdvisor.Tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g255100-Activities-Melbourne_Victoria.html