Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | December 2013 14 COVER STORY changed. The country now welcomes more travelers from China in a month than it did in an entire year back then, and for governments hard-pressed to deliver growth in a challenging global economy, the implications are enormous. The Labor Party governed Queensland for 23 years before Mr Campbell, then- mayor of Brisbane, and his center-right Liberal National Party ousted it last March in a landslide, winning 78 of 89 seats in Parliament. It was the most lopsided election in state history, and it was all about jobs and growth. And in Queensland, home to one-third of the country’s hotel rooms, that means tourists, and increasingly that has come to mean tourists from the big land mass to the north. New Zealand is the largest source of inbound travel to Australia, but China has moved firmly into second place, with visitation up 17.5% last year, more than triple the rate of growth of foreign arrivals as a whole, and it’s forecast to increase almost 16% this year and more than 10% in 2014, followed by Malaysia (13.9%), Singapore (12.5%) and India (7.5%). Asia, in fact, is now home to seven of Australia’s 10 largest tourism feeder markets. The continent will account for more than half the growth in international travel to the country by the end of the decade, according to federal government forecasts. There will be 1 million Chinese coming annually by then, contributing to the national economy upwards of $9 billion. They’re contributing around $3.8 billion currently, or close to 18% of total inbound visitor spend, and this year they will generate about 20% of the growth across the board, international and domestic, according to Tourism Australia, an agency of the government. Their per capita spend currently exceeds $7,000, and that’s almost twice the average of all international tourists.They stay longer, spendmoremoney shopping, they’re second in entertainment spending and fifth in restaurant and hotel expenditure. Stumping for Crown Sydney on a radio show last month, Mr Packer was pointing up the obvious when he said, “The natural attractions are magnificent, but people also Queensland Premier Campbell Newman came back from a tour of Asia in October, with stops in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and pronounced, “We’re in a global competition for tourists.” Source: Tourism and Events Queensland Visitor Expenditure in Queensland (Annual Change for Year Ended June) -5% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 30% -10% China Japan NZ USA UK Top Five Markets