Existing Information and Research

Beechworth District Survey Office

A range of information and research data and tools is readily available to help you get to “know your operating environment”, “know your customer” and “know your competitors” better.

Key tourism data sources available include:

International Visitor Survey (IVS) produced by Tourism Research Australia
National Visitor Survey (NVS) produced by Tourism Research Australia
Overseas Arrivals & Departures (OAD) produced by Australian Bureau of Statistics
Domestic and International Tourism Forecasts produced by Tourism Forecasting Council
Domestic and International Tourism Expenditure produced by Tourism Research Australia
Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) produced by Tourism Research Australia
Victorian Tourism Employment Atlas 2005, TTF Australia

For further detail on tourism data sources listed above (63 kb)

The Business Victoria website contains a vast array of information and resources to assist businesses. There is a component on market research which will give you a how to guide in 6 steps.

Links
http://www.business.vic.gov.au
http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC.2752808/STANDARD/PC_60716.html

Tap into the Under New Management Program (http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/1001/PC_62451.html) a series of workshops and seminars to assist small business owners and those considering starting a business.

The examples below highlight the insights available from some of the data sources above.

Know Your Operating Environment

Regional Victoria

Domestic Results

In 2005, regional Victoria received 11.0 million domestic overnight visitors who stayed a total of 33.0 million nights and spent $3.3 billion.
- Regional Victoria experienced a 2.0% increase in interstate visitor nights for the period 1999 to 2005 to reach 7.2 million visitor nights. This is despite a national decline of 2.1% for the same period.
- In 2005, regional Victoria experienced 21.1 million domestic daytrip visitors (+2.4% compared to 2004) who spent $1.8 billion. Expenditure by domestic daytrip visitors in regional Victoria increased by 15.4% between 2004 and 2005.

International Results

In 2005, regional Victoria received 295,000 international overnight visitors who spent $186 million.
- Visitation to regional Victoria by international visitors has increased by 17.6% from 1999 to 2005, to reach 295,000 visitors in 2005.
- Expenditure by international visitors increased by 10.7% over the same period to reach $186 million in 2005.

Sources: National and International Visitor Survey, year ending December1999-2005, Tourism Research Australia; and Travel Expenditure by Domestic and International Visitors in Australia's Regions 2005, Tourism Research Australia

Know Your Customer

Profile of visitors to the Grampians region

In 2005, the Grampians region received 657,000 domestic overnight visitors, who stayed a total of 2.0 million nights and spent $174 million in the region.
In 2005, the Grampians region received 42,000 international overnight visitors, who spent $11 million in the region.
Intrastate visitors represent the largest market for the Grampians region, accounting for 72% of total domestic overnight visitors to the region. Interstate visitors, accounting for 28% of total domestic visitors, are primarily driven by the South Australian market, which comprises 61% of all interstate visitors to the region.
Domestic overnight visitors to the Grampians region were most likely to be in the 25-44 years (38%) and 45-64 years (34%) age groups.
Of all domestic visitor nights in the Grampians region for the year ending June 2005, 48% were spent with friends or relatives, 17% were spent at a hotel, motel or resort and 15% were spent at a caravan park or commercial camping ground.

Sources: National and International Visitor Survey, year ending December1999-2005, Tourism Research Australia

Chinese Visitors to Victoria

There were 130,918 Chinese visitors to Victoria for the year ending December 2005, a 12.8% increase over the year ending December 2004. Nationally, Chinese visitation to Australia increased by 13.5% from 2004 to 2005.
Leisure travellers visiting Victoria from China in the year ending December 2005 tended to be unaccompanied travellers (39%) or adult couples (26%). Over three quarters of all nights spent in Victoria by leisure visitors were spent by unaccompanied travellers (86%).
In the year ending December 2005, 49% of all visitor nights spent in Victoria by Chinese leisure visitors were spent with friends or relatives, 31% spent at hotels, apartments, B&Bs or rented accommodation, and 6% were spent at budget or other accommodation.

Sources: National and International Visitor Survey, year ending December1999-2005, Tourism Research Australia

B&B Visitors to Victoria

23,000 International bed and breakfast visitors travelled to Victoria for the year ending December 2005. Bed and breakfast visitors represent only 2% of all international visitors to the State.
During the same period, Victoria received 345,000 domestic overnight bed and breakfast visitors, accounting for 843,000 visitor nights. The average length of stay for bed and breakfast visitors to Victoria was 2.4 nights.
International bed and breakfast tourism visitors to Australia were most likely to be aged between 25-44 years (44%) or 45-64 years old (37%).
The majority of international bed and breakfast visitors to Australia travelled as an adult couple (44%) or alone (39%). Business associates represented only 1% for this segment within Australia.
69% of bed and breakfast visitors to the State were holiday visitors and 15% were visiting friends and relatives.

Sources: National and International Visitor Survey, year ending December1999-2005, Tourism Research Australia

Know Your Competitors

Regional Analysis for the year ending December 2005

Of Victoria's campaign regions, The Great Ocean Road and the Murray regions received the highest number of domestic overnight visitors, experiencing 2.3 million and 2.1 million visitors respectively. Phillip Island (+12.3%), the Yarra Valley, Dandenongs & the Ranges (+6.8%) and Legends, Wine & High Country (+1.4%) were the only regions to experience growth for the year ending December 2005 compared to the previous year.
Compared to 2004, overnight visitor expenditure in regional Victoria decreased by 2.4% in 2005 to $3.3 billion. In contrast, daytrip visitor expenditure increased by 15.4% in regional Victoria from 2004 to 2005, to reach $1.8 billion. Of Victoria's campaign regions, the Great Ocean Road and Murray regions received the highest levels of domestic tourism expenditure in 2005, with combined overnight and daytrip visitors spending a total of $1.1 billion and $868 million respectively. Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges (+42.0%), Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges (+41.0%) and The Grampians (+22.7%) experienced the strongest growth for the year ending December 2005 compared to the previous year.

Other Resources

The following resources may be of interest in searching for further information:

Tourism Victoria

The Research section of Tourism Victoria's corporate website contains a range of information that is updated regularly, including international and domestic visitation and expenditure trends for Australia and Victoria and its regions. There are also fact sheets that provide visitor profiling information, including by region, international market and product segments (eg food and wine visitors).

These fact-sheets are updated annually and published on Tourism Victoria's corporate website

Hundreds of pages of information are updated regularly

Significance of tourism
- Contribution to the economy, employment,
International Tourism
- By origin, by region, expenditure, forecasts, market profiles
Domestic Tourism
- By origin, by region, by purpose, expenditure, forecasts, market profiles
Regional Tourism
- International, domestic, expenditure, accommodation, regional profiles, value of tourism
Segments
- Aboriginal, adventure, backpacker, bed and breakfast, caravan and camping, cultural tourism, events, fishing, golf, retail, wineries, ski

Tourism Research Australia

Tourism Research Australia was formed from a merger of the Bureau of Tourism Research and the Tourism Forecasting Council. TRA operates a statistical enquiries service for industry operators, academics, students and other interested parties.

Phone: 02 6213 6940
Internet: www.tra.australia.com
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Decipher

Decipher is an online tool that acts as a central access point for travel and tourism information relevant to industry, government, consultants – in fact, anyone looking for information related to the Australian tourism industry.

Phone: 1300 885 414
Internet: www.decipher.biz
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

What sort of information is available on Decipher?

A broad range of travel and tourism information, such as the latest visitation stats or aviation stats, market intelligence reports, planning or accreditation guidelines, or the number of business operators in by region.
300 plus data suppliers contributing their latest knowledge bases. These include Tourism Research Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, SENSIS/Yellow pages, and content from State Tourism Organisations corporate sites including Tourism Victoria.

Centre for Regional Tourism Research

The Centre for Regional Tourism Research is a partnership between the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre and Southern Cross University (SCU). The Centre was formed in 1998 to undertake research and extension activities to assist in the growth of tourism industries which would contribute to sustainable communities in regional Australia. Since its inception, the Centre has undertaken numerous projects, produced various occasional papers and kits.

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