Arrivals & Departures data shows impact of weaker A$ on foreign travel

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Pete Faulkner - Tourism, Uncategorized

We have just returned from a few days away and have only now seen the Arrivals and Departures data for June which the ABS released on Friday. It shows short-term arrivals up 7.7% from a year ago, with the annual total up 6.6% (seasonally adjusted). The Chinese market continues to grow with that growth rate having stabilised in recent months; June saw a total of 85,100 for the month (Trend data preferred to volatile monthly seasonally adjusted) which is an increase of 20.8% for the annual total over the same period last year. The chart below shows how Chinese growth has fared over recent years.

Departures also rose quite strongly (seasonally adjusted) to be close to a record monthly high at 782,000. However, when we consider departures over the course of the last 12 months we see a total which is just 2.9% above the level of last year; this is the slowest annual rate of growth for departures since June 2009. We are surely seeing the impact of a weaker A$ making foreign travel far more expensive for Aussies. As the chart below makes clear, the flip side of this is strong international arrivals and solid growth in domestic travel.