Australian tourism businesses are facing a doubling of marketing costs as they struggle to recover post-pandemic while grappling with geopolitical, environmental and economic challenges and facing cuts to government funding for international promotion.
Australia’s tourism industry faces rising marketing costs as it struggles to regain its once-strong export-earning status. Australian tourism businesses are spending up to twice their pre-pandemic budgets on marketing efforts to lure back international visitors, although international holidaymaker flows have not yet returned to 2019 levels.
“We always knew that restarting tourism would be difficult. Border closures effectively shut down many tourism businesses serving international markets. And more than two years later, we still We are working hard to revive the tourist market,” said ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley.
“Recent headwinds have added to the challenge, with geopolitical, environmental, aviation and economic concerns putting pressure on travel decisions.
“For Australian tourism businesses in particular, the cost of marketing their products in Europe and the US has increased significantly and this is really showing in our ability to secure space in the international travel market.”
A recent survey by ATEC found that more than three-quarters of export tourism operators have increased their marketing budgets by more than 20%, with a quarter of them now facing marketing budgets that are double their 2019 spend. It turned out that it was.
Companies face pressures such as increased spending from competing destinations, exchange rates, trade show participation fees, advertising costs, and overall travel costs as key drivers of marketing budgets.
“While there is pressure on individual businesses, the cost of marketing Australia to a global audience is also increasing for marketing agencies and maintaining a ‘first priority’ mindset for international travelers.” This will require a significant increase in advertising costs.
“As we move towards this year’s federal budget, we are seeing government agencies like Tourism Australia looking to do more with essentially the same budget they have been working with for the past 10 years. I can see it.
“While many of our competitors have doubled their tourism marketing spend, Australia has slashed its state tourism budget, effectively reducing the pool of marketing funds available to promote Australia to high-spending international travelers. .”
Mr Shelley hopes the federal government will recognize the return on investment export tourism generates by increasing Tourism Australia funding in next week’s budget.
“Failure to invest in tourism is to fail to invest in Australia’s success story. Tourism GDP grew by 3.5% in 2019, outpacing the country’s GDP, and it is now We must not forget that this is the economic benefit that many people are missing out on.
“We call on the Federal Government to support tourism and support the economy by helping tourism businesses across Australia get back on the market and back to their jobs.”
Vicky is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the TravelDailyNews Media Network. She is also responsible for day-to-day operations and financial policy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Business Management from the Athens University of Technology and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of experience in the travel industry, both academic and industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
