Concerns about the global economic crisis, natural disasters and the strength of the Australian dollar have led to a gloomy outlook for Australian tourism operators as performance hits its lowest point in three years, according to the latest TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey. With the upcoming Christmas – New Year period, operators are bracing for a struggle with more than 40 per cent expecting international tourism to be worse than usual.
Domestic tourism is expected to be more positive with 15 per cent of those surveyed forecasting for improvement. Tourism operators are not getting their hopes up too high, but hoping for better weather than Christmas and January last year, especially in Queensland.
"If there's a brighter spot, it’s that tourism operators are slightly less pessimistic about domestic travel for the upcoming holiday period, but keep in mind that expectations remain well below average,” Tourism Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said.
The survey also mentioned concern for the increasing labour shortages, with two thirds of those surveyed indicating their operations were impeded by a lack of skilled labour.
The TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey is conducted among senior executives from some of the most important Australian tourism operators including airlines, hotels, tour operators and attractions.
(Source: eTravelblackboard.com)
