Tourists from China, India and Indonesia are being treated like second-class citizens, according to Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond by being slugged $135 for an Australian tourist visa, while Europeans pay $20.
China is the most important tourist market for Australia. Visitor numbers from China increased by 22% (864,000), and trip spend increased 32% ($7 billion) according statistics release by Tourism Research Australia late last year. India was one of the fastest growing markets for the year. Visitors from India have now reached 207,000 (up by 20%) and this moves India up three places to become our 8th largest market. Trip spend has grown by 39% and surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
“A Chinese tourist would be right to ask why they are being slugged $135 for a visa when other tourists can pay a fee as low as $20 – that is sending the wrong message to what will soon be our largest tourist market that we don't value their visitations as much as others," Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond recently told the Australian Financial Review. TTF argued arrivals could increase even more rapidly if policy changes were made.
"International research has demonstrated that competitive visa reforms can increase tourism arrivals by between 5 to 25 per cent on average over a three-year period," Ms Osmond said. "If we applied this potential boost to our Chinese visitor market we could see an extra 255,000 Chinese visitors over three years on top of the 20 per cent annual growth we've had in recent years," says Ms Osmond.
TTF has also expressed concern about the rising cost of working holiday maker visas used by backpackers, which has risen from $280 in 2011 to $440 now. To make matters worse for this sector the government has rejected calls against its plan to abolish tax-free threshold for those visa holders. From July 1 2016 working holiday makers will pay 32.5¢ on the dollar in tax from the first dollar of income up to $80,000.
Image: Tourism Research Australia