Australia will look to Chinese investors to foot the bill for rejuvenating its ageing tourism infrastructure as the country seeks a larger slice of the growing Asian tourism market.
Federal Minister Assisting on Tourism Nick Sherry said investment in tourism infrastructure across Australia had been too low over the past decade, providing a poor image for visitors.
“It (investment) has been insufficient to maintain and expand a modern infrastructure, so some of our infrastructure is looking old and worn,” he told reporters at the Australia-China Tourism Summit in Cairns.
Mr Sherry said the federal government was seeking to encourage Australian institutions to invest in tourism infrastructure but would look overseas, particularity, to China, if there was not sufficient local interest.
“At the end of the day, wherever that investment comes from, frankly, we don’t mind whether it is Australian or foreign,” he said.
“There is, in China, interest in investing in Australian tourism and infrastructure. We seek to encourage that”
Mr Sherry said investment in infrastructure was crucial to plans to boost Australia’s tourism industry, which is struggling with a high Australian dollar and an increase in the number of Australians travelling overseas.
Although fewer travellers were coming to Australia from Europe and North America, Mr Sherry said demand from Asian countries was growing.
“We shouldn’t forget that Asian currencies have, like the Australian dollar, generally been trending up against the US dollar,” he said.
“That’s one of the reasons why growth from Asia has been so strong.”
Tourism Australia on Wednesday unveiled its 10-year strategic plan aimed at substantially boosting the number of Chinese tourists to Australia over the next decade.
Managing director Andrew McEvoy said the Chinese outbound tourism market was expected to be worth $9.5bn to Australia by 2020.
However, he said it was vital that Australia fought to improve its market share.
“Australia has had a good head start but still needs a robust plan for the future that focuses on the trade, consumers, aviation access, partnerships and shifts in market opportunity,” Mr McEvoy said.