annual report 2009-10 - Tourism NT

Tourism From the NT Chief Executive
Mixed results for
tourism industry
While there is no doubt it has been
another challenging twelve months
for tourism, the financial, economic
and environmental impacts we have
experienced have not dampened the
determination, drive and passion of
individual members of the industry.
2 tourism nt
Once again our tourism industry was hit with several
unforeseen events this financial year, which impacted on
overall performance. These included ongoing economic
uncertainty in key source markets in Europe, and the
Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in iceland in April which
severely disrupted international air travel. We also had
the more predictable impact of increased competition
from South Africa as it hosted the FiFA World Cup.
The strong strategic platform which underpins
our activities, outlined in the Five Year Strategic
Plan, provides a guide to long-term growth through
challenging times. With our flexible marketing approach
under the Share Our Story campaign banner, we can
adjust activities and messages quickly to take advantage
of new opportunities as they arise.
Total visitor numbers (from all source markets and for
all purposes of visit) were down 6% for the year;
however, these visitors stayed longer in the Territory and
total visitor nights increased by 5%. Total expenditure
per visitor per night was marginally softer, leading to
a 4% decline in total expenditure for the year.
For visitors where we have the greatest sphere of
influence, interstate and international holiday visitors,
the financial year results were very positive. For this
market, visitors numbers increased by 4% and visitor
nights increased by 22%. Expenditure by domestic
holiday visitors (including the intra-territory market) was
particularly strong and increased by 24% for the year.
The number of interstate holiday visitors increased by
12% to the second best result on record, after the pre-
GEC high achieved in 2007.
A key activity this year, in the lead-up to our new
accreditation policy which took effect from 1 July
2010, was assisting operators become accredited. i am
delighted to report that 330 tourism businesses are now
accredited, representing the majority of active tourism
operations in the Territory. We now only sell and promote
accredited tourism operators, providing customers with
confidence in the business standards of these operators.