Austrade’s 2017 Tourism Forecast has revealed the changing nature of Australia’s Tourism Market. The data has shown that alongside a general expansion of the industry, broad trends in the decline of traditional markets such as the UK and New Zealand in favour of Asian markets such as China and India will continue into the near future. These statistics raise questions over the cultural competency and readiness of Australian businesses to adapt to these changing conditions and demonstrates the fundamental importance of multicultural communication and engagement.
The forecast shows that by 2018, China will overtake New Zealand as the main country of origin for tourists as well as the largest source of revenue for tourism. Currently 1.3 million tourists from China visit Australia, and this number is expected to increase to 3.9 million by 2027 meaning that a quarter of all tourists will be from China by this time.
Tourism is an all-encompassing market which includes all the services that tourists interact with when they come to Australia. From obvious industries such as the hotel industry down to the transportation and retail industries, almost all businesses stand to benefit from improving their multicultural communication and engagement approaches.
Diversity doesn’t just come from overseas however. Australian society itself is becoming a more diverse and multicultural place and the benefits businesses stand to gain from improving their engagement with tourists is also true in relation to their ability to engage with Australia’s domestic multicultural markets.
Cultural Perspectives has been at the forefront of helping organisations expand their scope by reaching multicultural groups. Cultural Perspectives was able to set into action the Sydney Swans’ vision to engage and share Australia’s national game with the Sydney Chinese community. Cultural Perspectives coordinated an approach which centered on media engagement to bring exposure of the game to the community. The results were highly successful and established a strong relationship of ongoing contact and engagement between the Swans and representatives of the Chinese media.
Australia’s increasing multicultural diversity alongside the projected trend of Asian importance to the Australian Tourism Industry in the near future, means that cultural competency and multicultural engagement has never been more necessary for businesses to reach a diverse array of communities.