Portfolio Media

Tourism numbers drop – Labor inaction rises

17 July 2009

Rudd Labor Government cuts to tourism funding have come at the worst possible time for the industry, Shadow Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo says.

Mr Ciobo’s comments come in the wake of yet another sobering set of numbers out of Tourism Australia’s forecasting arm showing:

·         Australia will lose $2.2 billion in tourism spending in 2009

·         International visitor numbers will drop  by 4 per cent in 2009

·         Domestic visitor numbers will drop 3.9 per cent in the same period

·         More than 20,000 tourism jobs are estimated to have disappeared

Mr Ciobo said Labor’s decision to cut funding to Tourism Australia in the May Budget was a cruel blow on top of $1 billion in new imposts on an industry where margins were being squeezed and cash flows were being choked.

“For one of the biggest contributors to our gross domestic product and a sector that employs almost 500,000 people, you would expect the government to be offering help, not hindrances,” Mr Ciobo said. “And I read with interest (Tourism Minister) Martin Ferguson has put a positive spin on the figures, noting they are not as bad as Japan or the UK.”

“That will provide little comfort to operators, hoteliers and the aviation industry who are having to slash margins and cut staff to stay afloat. Mr Ferguson should look to his counterparts across the Tasman who have gone on the front foot and launched aggressive marketing campaigns to battle the downturn – not cutting back on destinational marketing.”

Mr Ciobo said on top of his passive neglect of the industry, Mr Ferguson had failed to act on the landmark Jackson Report into tourism, with one exception – ignoring one of the key recommendations not to split TA’s research arm from the tourism body.

“Clearly Mr Ferguson has been too busy dealing with his other major portfolios of energy and resources to pay much attention to an industry which is on its knees,” Mr Ciobo said.