Lifeline for ABS Tourism Accommodation Data

Extra funding has been found to support the Survey of Tourism Accommodation – which monitors the performance of 8000 Australian properties –  for the next year but its long-term future remains in doubt. Minister for Trade and Tourism, Andrew Robb, said Austrade would fund the research for 2014-15.

The survey, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, was going to be scrapped following Federal Budget funding cuts before Mr Robb stepped in.

Tourism Accommodation Australia welcomed the reprieve but said a long-term solution needs to be found.

"Australia is about to undergo its most significant hotel development program in two decades, and it is essential that investors and other analysts have the most precise, comprehensive and reliable figures possible," TAA Managing Director Rodget Powell said.

“We are concerned that the extension is currently just for one year.

"The primary users of the data are not the 8,000 properties who supply it, but the investors, analysts, developers, and other players in the broader tourism segment."

Source: Travel Trends - 25th June 14