Australian tourism will not suffer greatly from the high Australia dollar says council

Australia’s inbound tourism industry is performing well despite the Australian dollar reaching parity with the US dollar, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) said.

ETA Visa

Inbound tourism should not suffer in the short term by the high Australian dollar.

ATEC managing director, Matt Hingerty said that while the industry appreciated the concern of economic commentators, the inbound sector, for the most part, was performing well relative to last year.

“We have seen good growth coming out of the GFC, with a strong 5.6 per cent increase in inbound travellers in August,” he said.

Mr Hingerty said the strength of the Aussie dollar was being offset by reduced airfares into the country, increase in travel by Chinese tourists, strong growth in the corporate market and good marketing campaigns from Tourism Australia and state bodies.

“However if the dollar remains historically high over the long term, it will impact us, and members report that the horizon beyond Christmas is less clear.”

The Aussie dollar hit parity with the US dollar on Friday last week the first time since the currency floated freely on 8 December 1983.

All visitors to Australia must have an Australian Tourist Visa, the most popular of these being the ETA. The ETA Visa can be applied for online and is almost instantly approved, removing the need to send your passport away as the travel authority is attached to the passport number electronically.

The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Australian Visa application with the Australian High Commission.