The strong Australian dollar has continued to take its toll on the tourism industry, with the sector recording its largest deficit in tourist numbers since records were first kept 34 years ago.
Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that tourist arrivals fell by a seasonally adjusted 1 per cent in January to 489,900 while departures rose by 2 per cent to 558,500, the third highest monthly figures recorded.
Over the year to January, just more than 5.6 million tourists came to country while 6.35 million Australians went overseas for holidays or short-term business trips.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said in the gap between departures and arrivals now stood at 713,500, the biggest tourism deficit in 34 years.
The tourist shortfall was driven by the higher Australian dollar which has been perched between US80 cents and US90c. The dollar is also near decade highs against the Euro and 25-year highs against the British pound.
"Over 2009 the in-bound tourist sector was buffeted by the US financial crisis, with fewer people travelling abroad," Mr James said.
"In part more Australians taking holidays at home made up for some of the shortfall in tourist numbers up.
"The good news is that there has been recovery in foreign tourist numbers but the outflow of Australians travelling abroad has been more substantial.
"All parts of the tourism sector are affected by the lofty Australian dollar. The high dollar may deter foreign tourists from visiting our shores and the numbers are less likely to be made up by Australians taking holidays at home.
"Even for the short stay market, if someone has their sights set on a trip to the US or UK, they are less likely to be taking a short break at home - deciding to save up instead for the big trip."
Mr James added that tourism operators will continue to experience tough business conditions during 2010 and will need to stay competitive on pricing, especially if they are to attract domestic visitors or the conference market.
"A high Aussie dollar is likely to be a fact of life - meaning that businesses will need to budget with the assumption that the Aussie dollar holds near US80-90 cents," Mr James said.
