Australian tourism business indicators are at their lowest levels for a year as future bookings dwindle for a fourth straight quarter.

The Tourism and Transport Forum-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey said tourism operators are obviously concerned about the rising Aussie dollar, with 71% of businesses saying it was having a negative impact.

In addition, businesses were less likely to employ more staff.The figures are bad news for Tourism Australia who have stated recently that they were not overly concerned about the value of the dollar.

At the same time it has been reported that international airfares are at their cheapest level ever. According to Graham Turner, managing director of Flight Centre, this is due to the impact of the Global Financial Crisis.

“The cost of the cheapest return ticket to London is now similar to the average weekly wage in Australia,” he told Travel Today.

Speaking of airlines, Jetstar has soared to become Australia's second biggest carrier, helping to offset a decrease in Qantas' market share.