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| 26 June 2008 | Sydney | | | Australia Voted Top Travel Destination in Key Asia Pacific Markets | | | New survey shows Australia tops the holiday ‘must see’ list for majority of people from nine tourism sources including Korea, Malaysia and India | |
Australia tops the list of ‘must-visit’ travel destinations in Asia Pacific for the majority of people living in the Asia Pacific region, according to a new survey commissioned by Visa International.[1]
The survey, which asked more than 4,500 people from nine Asia Pacific countries and territories to share their top five ‘must-visit’ travel destinations in the region, found that 63 percent of respondents said Australia was the place they most wanted to see.
Australia ranked in first or second place for all source destinations surveyed, underscoring widespread regional interest in travelling to Australia. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), more than 2.7 million people from the nine source destinations surveyed visited Australia in 2007. PATA forecasts that more than three million people will visit Australia from these same source destinations in 2010, representing an average annual growth rate of 3.4 percent[2].
Chris Clark, Visa’s General Manager for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific said: “This survey is good news for Australia ’s tourism industry. The diversity of Australia helps to make it a ‘must see’ holiday destination for our neighbors in Asia. With rising fuel prices likely to impact tourism for some time to come, it makes sense for the industry to work together to develop the potential of the places on our doorstep.”
Australia was in the top five list of every location polled: Koreans (71 percent), Malaysians (66 percent), Indians (65 percent), Japanese and Singaporeans (both 61 percent), New Zealanders (60 percent), Taiwanese and Hong Kongers (both 58 percent).
Interestingly, Australians are just as interested as their Asia Pacific neighbours in seeing their own country. Almost half of the Australians surveyed (42 percent) choose Australia as a ‘must-visit’ travel destination in the region, just behind New Zealand.
The new survey not only confirms the widespread appeal of Australia as a travel destination, but also the mutual interest of Australians and New Zealanders in visiting each other’s countries. In Australia, a majority (59 percent) of respondents ranked New Zealand as their top ‘must-visit’ destination, while a similar majority of New Zealanders (60 percent) ranked Australia as their top ‘must-visit’ destination.
Among those surveyed across the region, the appeal of Australia across certain demographics was similar with 64 percent of men and 62 percent of women putting Australia in their must see list. Across age groups, Australia was marginally more popular with travellers under 45 but all age groups had more than 60 percent of people selecting Australia as a ‘must see’ destination.
Mr Clark continued: “Australia offers a variety of unique experiences for younger and older travelers alike, but knowing more about the particular demographics of likely visitors helps us to make the right decisions when it comes to developing cardholder programs and promotions to support tourism growth.”
Media contact:
Judy Shaw
Visa International
ausinfo@visa.com
[1]Between 17 March and 9 April 2008, Nielsen conducted 4,556 online and door-to-door interviews on behalf of Visa with people aged 18 years and above from nine countries and territories (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and India) in an effort to measure their travel intentions in the future. For each market, quotas were set by key demographic variables to ensure the sample was representative of the general population. [2]PATA Asia Pacific Tourism Forecasts, 2008-2010 | |
About Visa
Visa operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com. | |
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