Investment continues to drive national tourism growth, with the 2012 Australian tourism investment pipeline up 22 percent, or almost $8 billion, from 2011, according to a new report from Tourism Research Australia.

This growth, along with continued strong international visitor arrivals and high accommodation occupancy rates, confirms Australia as an attractive investment environment for tourism infrastructure.

Among the report’s key findings:

• The tourism investment pipeline is estimated to have been $44.1 billion in 2012,
• The 2012 pipeline consisted of $5.6 billion in accommodation investment; $22.5 billion in new aircraft investment; $6.4 billion in airport infrastructure investment; and $9.6 billion in arts and recreation services investment.
• 25 hotel/resort major asset transfers were recorded in 2012 at a total value of $1.4 billion – the highest value since the Global Financial Crisis;
• If the $5.6 billion invested in the accommodation pipeline is realised, this will provide an additional 9,760 rooms to meet growing accommodation demand.

Australia is the eighth largest tourism market in the world, with tourism generating $48 million per day in Queensland, or $17.7 billion per year in overnight visitor expenditure.

Tourism is Queensland’s second largest export earner, behind coal.

Meanwhile, a new marketing initiative promoting the beauty and accessibility of the Southern Great Barrier Reef will roll out this month to entice more South East Queenslanders to the region.

With the tagline, ‘where great begins’, the campaign marks the first time Bundaberg, Gladstone and Capricorn tourism regions have partnered in a tourism campaign to collectively promote the area as the ‘Southern Great Barrier Reef’.

It’s the latest ‘destination marketing’ initiative supported by the State Government through Tourism and Events Queensland. The State Government aims to double overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2020.

Last year, the Southern Great Barrier Reef region welcomed 1.8 million Australians, up 16 per cent from 2011.