• Cairns' tourism summit commences
• Strategic plan for China unvelied
• Investment in tourism a must says Tourism Minister

Cairns is hosting the inaugural Australia-China Tourism Summit as part of a $30 million spend by the Australian Government to target the Chinese tourist market over the next four years.

The Vice Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, Dr Du Jiang, is leading China’s first delegation of tourism officials to Queensland.

Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson urged an audience from industry and government to make the most of a market that’s already worth over $3 billion a year to Australia.

“Within a decade, visitors from China are forecast to bring $6 billion into the Australian economy in a single year, doubling the current economic value of Chinese visitors to Australia,” he said.

Minister Ferguson unveiled Tourism Australia’s China 2020 Strategic Plan.

“This plan is a major contribution to our thinking on ways to strengthen our relationship on tourism.  It gives the Australian tourism industry a clearer direction for enhancing business from China.

“Tourism Australia is taking Australia to China via support from industry and governments right across our country.”

Minister Ferguson said improving the Approved Destination Status scheme, which has brought thousands of Chinese tour groups to Australia over the past decade, was on the summit’s agenda.

He called for substantial new investment in the Australian tourism industry.

“To make the most of emerging markets such as China, Australia’s approach must have investment at its core.  With strong occupancy rates in capital cities, the time is right for new investment and Australia welcomes foreign investment,” Minister Ferguson said.

Tourism Australia's boss, Andrew McEvoy said they have identified key opportunities from China which include:

A growing upper and middle class
The emergence of the Free Independent Traveller (FIT) segment
Growth in demand for business events
A strong digital and social media environment
Expansion of aviation capacity under the Air Service Agreement

“In 2010, China was Australia’s fourth largest source of visitor arrivals but also became the largest market in terms of economic value, worth $3.3 billion," he said.

“By 2020 there will be around one billion outbound trips from China annually but with 140 countries also competing for market share we need to ensure Australia remains competitive.

“The plan identifies the key opportunities that will help Australia to win market share and grow the China travel market to as much as $9.5 billion in overnight expenditure and 860,000 visitors annually by 2020,” Mr McEvoy said.

Mr McEvoy said that while the outlook for travel from China to Australia continued to be positive, steps needed to be taken to meet the evolving and complex needs of the market.

“We will be concentrating our efforts on understanding the Chinese consumer as their needs continue to change and the market matures. Our partnerships with airline and with industry and government are also vital to ensure we have the capacity to bring visitors here and that we give them the very best tourism experience on offer. 

Editor's Comment: With the Minister saying that investment in tourism is critical, perhaps now is the time to finalise Port Douglas' infrastructure plans and seek the necessary funding to put Port back on the international tourist map.