Concerns about the impact of the rising Australian dollar have been subdued by a new report that shows high visitor expenditure expected in Sydney and Melbourne, from 132 global cities analysed in the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities.
Sydney ranked second in the Asia-Pacific with expected visitor expenditure at more than $13.8 billion. Although Melbourne did not feature in the top 20 for visitor arrivals, it ranked highly on visitor expenditure at number 19, with international visitors expected to spend more than $7.5 billion in 2011.
“Analysts and business owners in Australia have expressed concern over recent months about the impact that the continued strength of the Australian dollar will have on visitors looking to travel to our shores, but it is heartening to see that not only are our cities as popular as ever, visitors plan to spend more when they get here,” said MasterCard Australia country manager Andrew Cartwright.
Melbourne also ranked eighth in the world for predicted growth, with visitors to the Victorian city expected to increase their spending by 19% this year. Sydney’s growth was projected at 12.1%.
“These results should ease some concerns by those polled in the recent Tourism and Transport Forum/MasterCard survey which found that the Australian travel industry were concerned by the continued dominance of the dollar and the detrimental impact it could have on inbound travel to Australia,” said Cartwright.
