Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 3:27:37 to 3:31:07
Discussion shifts to the impact of rising fuel and transport costs on international tourism and the strategic decision to prioritize high-yielding international visitors over domestic tourism, followed by the hearing's adjournment.
Topics: Tourism, Energy prices, Travel and event costs, Exports
Speakers: Robin Mack, Senator Matthew Canavan, Senator Raff Ciccone, Unknown Speaker
ministers. Just another issue then. Um uh I think another thing issue that for the tourism sector I'm hearing is uh the uh fuel crisis has made it very difficult for those exposed to international tourism uh given the costs of getting here have gone up. Uh do you do any work on on trying to help or promote Australians to holiday home >> as a cheaper alternative?
>> Uh from our perspective we don't focus on domestic tourism. solely focused on international inbound tourism. So we leave the domestic work to our states and territories.
>> Has tourism Australia ever done work on inbound tourism or domestic tourism?
>> Domestic tourism we have in the past. Yes. Yes. Senator,
>> there's been no reflection of maybe a shift to that given the the the high transport costs since the Iran crisis.
>> The last time we were involved in it was during COVID when borders were closed. We were looking at it then. Uh our state and territory partners do a great job in that space for us. Um while costs are going up, you're right, in terms of impact on fuel price and airfare cost, the demand is still there. So people are still wanting to travel. So we're trying to grab that share of international visitors because when they come, they support our industry in actually a greater way than a domestic traveler. They'll stay longer, they'll spend more, they'll stay midweek, they will [snorts] disperse widely. So that's solely our focus and we maintain that focus. Um, is
that a decision you can make about domestic tourism or are you directed by government where to focus?
>> It would be directed on that.
>> Okay. All right.
>> Well, on that note, thank you, Mr. Mack. That was fantastic. You and your team. Thank you. You got there in the end. Colleagues, that does conclude today's proceedings. Uh, the committee is due to recommence examination of estimates tomorrow with the Department of Defense. Uh I want to thank ministers Wong, Farrell, um all the officers, uh Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and their agencies and all the witnesses. Thanks to Hansa Broadcasting Secretariat. On that note, I declare