How High Australia Exchange Rate Effects on Australian Travelling Overseas - Research Paper Example

How high Australia exchange rate effects on Australian travelling overseas and travellers visiting Australia Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 INTRODUCTION 3 Research Objectives: 8 Updated Literature Review 9 METHODOLOGY 11 DISCUSSION 14 CONCLUSION 17 19 REFERENCES 20 APPENDIX 24 Table 1: Exports of tourism goods and services 24 Table 2: Tourism share of consumption (per cent) 25 Table 3: Number of businesses in the tourism industry in Australia 25 Table 4: Number of management units by employment size for tourism 26 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Travel has been an all time favorite for everyone all around the globe. People travel for pleasure like visiting friends and holiday and they travel for work also like business, job and many other reasons. Prominently holiday has been the main reason for international travel. The destination selection is influenced by the situational constraints of the traveler and the attraction factor of the destination. The effect of exchange rate has not been studied so far. For studying destination competitiveness, the effect of exchange rate must be taken into consideration. A comprehensive study covering all the issues related to exchange rates will give a better background to understand its effect on tourism. We have taken an overview presented in the secondary sources and based our study of tourism as an industry on that. The Introduction part covers the general data on tourism in context with Australia. A description of methods that can be used to gather data is presented under Methodology sections followed by general discussion and conclusion on the reasons for undertaking this research. INTRODUCTION When people travel to a different place away from their homes they can be called tourists. The reason of travel could be business, job or leisure or any other purpose “not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited’ (ABS 2004, 48). World Tourism Organization, (WTO) has defined Tourism as a stay of less than a year. When the stay exceeds more than a year then it can not be considered as tourism. The tourism industry is one of the main sources of income in many countries (Williams and Shaw 1988, Coccossis and Nijkamp 1995). It is one of the fastest growing industry in the world and it accounts for about 10.7% of the world’s GDP. This sector generates revenues of US$ 500 billion per year while providing employment to about 260 million people world wide. The current growth rate is about 7% per annum. There are many factors that affect destination competitiveness. They may be price or non-price factors. If a set of indicators is developed to show this it will be of great help. Any study which is done to find out the factors that affect destination selection by tourists, will find these indicators very useful. The factors that influence tourism in terms of demand and growth are as follows: 1. Demographic factors – These factors include population of the country of origin, per capita income, education etc. Out of all these, per capita income is a high determining factor as it encourages affordability of travel. The countries having high economic growth are showing growth in outbound tourism as well. (Crouch 1992, 1995). 2.Qualitative Factors – This is the quality of the destination. The image portrayed and the services provided influence the selection of tourist destination. Similarity of culture is also an important factor. The strength of these factors will reflect changing fashions and tastes (Crouch and Ritchie 1999) 3.Price Factors – These are the most important factors determining the flow of tourists. The cost of tourism includes the transportation costs, accommodation, food and beverages, entertainment etc. These costs are generally flexible and keep on changing depending upon the exchange rate variations, or economic policies or the demand and supply conditions of the market. There have been several studies on the price competitiveness of different destinations. In one of these, it has been shown that an increase in relative costs is linked with a fall in market share in travel from every origin country. (Edwards, 1995) That gives us evidence of price sensitivity of international travelers (Crouch 1992) Since price and exchange rate are linked together, it is important to study these parameters. .Moreover, it provides the indication of competitiveness of a destination. There are many different indicators of destination competitiveness like number of visitors, expenditure made by the tourists, repeat trips, and financial factors like employment opportunities, incoming foreign exchange, market share and other value addition due to tourism. Along with such objective and measurable factors, there are certain subjective factors also. These include culture, its heritage, beauty and appeal of the place, quality service, experience of tourists, etc. The number of visitors and the expenditure made by them is considered a very important factor by many researchers. That is the main determinant of the destination competitiveness. Most of the theories also affirm the same. And this is linked to the exchange rate prevalent at the time. But many other researchers believe that it is the economic and financial factors like per capita income or economic prosperity is the main factor for destination competitiveness. (Crouch and Ritchie 1999, Buhalis 2000). Ultimately, however, it translates to spending power of its residents which can be spent on tourism. Tourism in Australia : Australia’s major export earnings come from tourism, the major source being direct sale of goods and services to the tourists. In 2002-2003, it amounted to more than $ 16.6 billion. Between 1997-98 and 2001-01, a strong growth of tourism export and other goods and services export related to tourism, took place. Australia was the 10th biggest revenue earner from tourism in 2002, 2003 and 2004. But over the years this share has been constantly decreasing. During 2001–2002 and 2002–2003, external events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare caused decrease in the number of international visitors to Australia. (ABS 2004) (See Table 1). International visitors consumption was $16.7 billion in 2002-03, which was 11.2 % of total export value. This figure was same in 1997-98 but in 1998-99 it touched its all time high at 12.0%. The domestic sources provide the main demand for tourism goods and services in Australia. The consumption of Australian residents was 77 % of tourism output in 2002-03, while 23% of the output was consumed by international visitors (shown in the appendix, Table 2). Thus the main revenue is coming from the domestic tourists. The major part of inbound tourism in Australia accounts for holiday tourism. Approximately 2.9million tourists visit Australia for holiday which is 58 % of total inbound traffic. Asians form the largest percentage of tourists to Australia at 26%, while Europeans constitute 24%, New Zealanders are at 17%, Japanese account for 14%, North Americans form 12% and the rest of the world is at 7%. Due to the Olympic Games and its publicity, there was an increase of 10.9 % as compared to 1999 numbers of inbound tourists. Economic growth of North America and Europe also contributed to it and so did the favorable exchange rate. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) provides data on the economic contribution of tourist activity to the economy. A classification system is used to identify the supplying industries and the consumption of the inputs by the tourist activities (OECD 2000). Thus this data covers travel for business and other reasons, such as education and academic activities, besides leisure activity. The businesses types that contribute to the tourism industry in Australia are shown in Table 3 and Table 4. Outbound Travel : Outbound travel covers resident departures and short-term overseas arrivals. It accounts for approximately 40% of total international travel. There has been a remarkable drop in the outbound travel cost as compared to the domestic travel, that has propelled the numbers faster as compared to the domestic travel sector. With the advent of newer technology, aviation industry is able to pass on the benefits to travelers and thus airfares have been slashed down and are competing with domestic sectors. The outbound travel is mainly for Holiday purpose. Almost 46% of the total departures of the residents, short-term, are for holiday. This number has been increasing at the rate of 5% per year consistently. It was 0.5 million in 1974, and it reached 1.3 million in 1996. These are people going out for holiday to different locations During the same period, domestic holiday declined by 2.8 per cent suggesting that substitution has taken place between outbound and domestic holiday travel because of the competitive prices of outbound travel. According to Hamal (1996 and 1997) there is a substitution that occurs between outbound and domestic holiday traffic. The main reason for this is comparison of holiday costs of the difeerent locations by the travelers. It is needless to say that attraction of the place combined with cost effectiveness is the basis of selection. So, it is not just the cost of holiday at one destination that affects it but also the cost of other destinations also has a major effect. Another interesting factor that has been noticed is the duty-free shopping opportunities. This has affected tourism in many parts of the world and has also become main motive for tourism. It has been acting as the major ‘pull factor’ for destination selection. Places like Singapore and Hong Kong have been promoted as the exotic shopping destinations. Tourists going to these places spend more than 50% of their total expenditure on shopping. And the shopping depends upon the spending power of the tourists to a large extent which is in turn influenced by the exchange rate fluctuations. Aim : To investigate the effect of exchange rate fluctuations in the inbound and out bound tourism in Australia. Research Objectives: 1. Assess the change in travel plans of travelers from different countries and from Australia based on exchange rate. 2. Assess the change in terms of money spent by travelers coming to Australia and going out from Australia due to exchange rate changes. 3. Assess the changes in areas where money spent is reduced/not changed – for e.g food/entertainment or others i.e. identify the changes in spending patterns of the tourists. 4. Assess the change in reason of traveling i.e. whether for business/leisure or academic. 5. Assess the change in duration of stay of visitors due to fluctuations in exchange rate. Updated Literature Review Many studies have been undertaken to establish a link between exchange rates and tourism growth. Notable among them has been from Crouch 1992 and Edwards, 1995 (has shown that an increase in relative costs is linked with a fall in market share in travel from every origin country.) There have been detailed and extensive price comparisons made by the International Comparisons Program (World Bank 1993, OECD 1987, 1993, 1998). Indices of the price competitiveness of worldwide tourist destinations have been compiled in an article series (Dwyer, Forsyth and Rao, 1999; 2000a,b,c; 2001; Dwyer, Mistilis, Forsyth and Rao 2001).Other studies on destination price competitiveness have taken the exchange rate comparisons and studied the expenditure patterns on same kind of goods and services related to tourism in various locations (Martin and Witt ,1987). It is clear that price sensitivity of international travel has enough evidence (Crouch 1991). Hence, it is very necessary for the growth of the tourism sector to look at the price competitiveness of a country’s tourism industry, as compared to that of its competitors. A study was done in connection with tourism price competitiveness. It has compared the travel costs to and from the destination and also the cost that are involved within the selected destination (Dwyer et al. 2001). An assessment of price competitiveness of destination tourism in context with various journey purpose was also undertaken in 1999 and 2000, as a series of studies (Dwyer, Forsyth and Rao 1999, 2000b,c; Dwyer, Mistilis, Forsyth and Rao 2001). Two major attributes that affect destination selection in holiday planning, are attraction factor of the destination and situational constraints of the tourist that defines his ability limits for travel. This trend helps study outbound travel. (Woodside and Lysonski 1989; Um and Crompton 1990 and 1992; Crompton and Ankomah 1993). Situational constraints can be defined as availability of time, level of income, cost of travel, and also health etc. These two major attributes have a combined effect on selection of the destination (Um and Crompton 1990 and 1992; Hansen 1976; Woodside and Lysonski 1989). It has been seen that the situational constraints play a more important role as compared to attraction of the destination. (Um and Crompton 1992). Another theory is that it is actually the cost of travel that is the most important factor that affects destination selection. According to Hamal (1996,1997),this is much more important than any other factor of situational constraint. According to Dwyer, Forsyth and Rao (2000a, p. 11) tourism competitiveness is a subject that covers many factors. It is affected by price differentials and also exchange rate movements. The tourist industry and productivity levels of its various components also play an important part. Then the qualitative factors are there that decide the destination selection. If we study the literature on price competitiveness and comparative advantage we find that cost factors associated with travel and destination definitely affect the tourist traffic flow. It has also been noticed that in some markets the price sensitivity is much higher than other places. (Lee et al., 1996).Empirical studies show that there are many factors that influence tourism firms’ price competitiveness. These factors are industry competition, technology levels, government policies, exchange rates and multinational enterprises’ influence (Dwyer, Forsyth & Rao, 2000a,b, 2002). Some other studies show that in any country the prosperity levels of its citizens is directly linked to destination competitiveness (Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999). The World Economic Forum also supports this theory (Porter et al., 2001). Needless to say that the measure of economic prosperity is the income available for disposal to the residents and this translates to a strong currency relative to other holiday destinations. METHODOLOGY There are many classifications of Research methods. Generally it is divided into two methods, namely qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative Research: Normally qualitative research methods comprise of ethnography, action research and case study research. The data sources of Qualitative data are observation, interviews, fieldwork like participant observation, texts, documents and questionnaires. It also includes the reactions and impressions of the researcher. Normally the researchers choose either of the methods. They select either quantitative or qualitative research work but there is one more method called triangulation that involves combining one or more than one methods. There are three categories underlying the qualitative research: positivist, interpretive and critical. General assumption of Positivists says that reality can be quantified or described by measurable properties and it is totally independent of the researcher or observer and his or her instruments. To increase the predictability and understanding of a process, Positivist studies normally try to test theory. At the same time Interpretive researchers believe that it is social constructions like consciousness, language and shared meanings through which reality can be seen. The Interpretive research does not predefine dependent and independent variables. While the Critical researchers believe that social reality is constituted historically and that it is people who produce and reproduce it. For collecting empirical data all the research methods use one or more than one technique. They can use interviews. They can also use observational techniques like fieldwork and participant observation. One more technique could be archival research. Sometimes written data sources are also used. These include company reports, published and unpublished documents, letters, memos, reports, email messages, newspaper articles, faxes etc. Quantitative Research: This research method investigates quantitative properties in a systematic and scientific way. It investigates the phenomena and their relationships. The quantitative research aims to develop mathematical models and implement them. It also explores hypotheses and theories pertaining to natural phenomena. The most important part of quantitative research is the process of measurement. Due to this the fundamental connection between empirical observation and quantitative relationships’ mathematical expression can be established. Quantitative research is generally approached using scientific methods which include: The generation of models, theories and hypotheses, The development of instruments and methods for measurement, Experimental control and manipulation of variables, Collection of empirical data, Modelling and analysis of data and Evaluation of results. Quantitative methods generally use measuring and counting. The result of quantitative method is a number, or sometimes a series of numbers. Most of the times they are depicted in graphs, tables or other forms of statistics. As in Qualitative, for qualitative research also , the basic epistemological positions to choose from are positivist, interpretive, or critical. But in the case of quantitative research, the interpretive and critical positions are not meaningful; only the positivist one is. The most popular data collection techniques include: surveys, secondary data sources or archival data, objective measures or tests, and interviews Our methodology :In our Research methodology, we will be using both qualitative as well as quantitative methods for our research. We will have to rely on secondary sources very much. We also have an option of going for direct surveys and interviews with visitors/tourists at different locations. First the destination markets will be chosen. These include the major competitors of Australia in terms of tourism sector. To understand a destination’s price competitiveness completely, it is very important to compare it with choice of other alternative destinations that lie with the visitor. We can use ABS reports to look for number of visitors coming over and going out from Australia before and after the major changes in exchange rates. Then we can identify the expenditure patterns of tourists from different origin market. For every item that is connected with tourists’ expenditure, the price data can be compiled. ICP or the International Comparison Program provides data on the prices that the tourists pay at different destinations for various goods and services.(World Bank 1993). Starting from 1985, the price data can be obtained for 255 categories of different products and services from the ICP for selected years. Limitations of the study: There are limitations to the availability of data which can be sourced. One limitation with the surveys is that the surveys and questionnaires that are used may not cover the right sample. The survey respondents may not be the correct representatives of the Australian tourism industry. Moreover, the tourists may not be willing to share information regarding their own spending patterns or options. DISCUSSION Tourism was chosen for study because in Australia, it is an important economic sector representating about 4.2% of Australia's GDP in 2003-2004 . The tourism industry has some particularly interesting features and does not focus solely on technology. We can say that tourism and its study has a well established base of industry that has direct dealings with the retail customers. Although it uses new technology now in an extensive way, but it is not the main focus of this industry. There is an increasing importance of the destination in the industry. It is the experience of the tourist that is the determinant for its success. If it meets his expectations or if it exceeds it then it is a positive sign. So it directs the focus on the destination and related activities. There can be some factors that could be out of control of the destinations and may be connected to other factors. Some of these factors could be related to the global economy. Real rates of economic growth in origin markets or income effects and tourist price elasticity of demand or substitution effects are among such factors. Some other factors could be the state of international relations and competitiveness exchange rates that can influence tourism flows. Competitive advantage is a concept which applies equally to tourism sector as well. And the exchange rate factor is particularly relevant as the measure of price competitiveness and competitive advantage in studies of the tourism industry. Demand studies assume the nominal exchange rate as a crude measure of price competitiveness and use methods beyond that. They have tried to determine exchange rate adjusted changes in the prices of goods and services of that are identified as ’tourist bundles’. (Martin & Witt, 1987) Some studies are done by The Economist Intelligence Unit (Edwards, 1995). They collect the prices paid by tourists in countries selected for the study. There is therefore a case for studying the actual effects of fluctuations in exchange rates by comparing the growth or decline of tourism sector in different countries With data on detailed international price comparisons now available from the ICP, it is possible to take a look at this phenomena quantitatively. We can find a variation in perspective while understanding, defining and measuring competitiveness which is based on fluctuations in exchange rate. We also find that competitiveness is a multi-faceted concept as defined by various disciplines and their perspectives. In our study, we are concerned with the notion of competitiveness as associated with price competitiveness perspective. In its broadest terms the financial cost of tourism includes transportation costs to and from the destination and also the costs incurred within the destination. These factors influence travel decisions in a powerful way. Price competitiveness indices can be constructed based on purchasing power parities and the information on exchange rates. Socioeconomic and global forces influence some of the cost factors while government actions like taxes can influence some. There are other factors that can be managed within limits. The prices of the goods and services related to the tourist needs affect the price competitiveness of a destination. However it is important to know the perception of value. Price has to be considered along with the quality of the product otherwise it does not carry any meaning. It is possible that the tourist may compromise with quality while looking for lower prices (Buhalis, 2000:106). It is a main challenge for the tourism industry to provide value for money. And all these price indicators cannot be completely constructed without the relevant discussion on exchange rate fluctuations. Thus the exchange rate has an impact on tourism sector performance, although this varies considerably depending on the performance measures (eg arrivals or spend), purpose of visit and origin market. Though inbound tourism may only be slightly influenced by exchange rate movements, the impact is felt more on the expenditure by these visitors. But the outbound travel could be probably more sensitive to movements in exchange rates. This could be because of the increase in spending power of the residents. CONCLUSION Thus we see that since international traveling is sensitive to price changes, it is necessary to look at the different reasons for this price change. Except for the exchange rate fluctuations, other factors are directly dependent on the resources available and the competitiveness of the destination countries and the market factors play an important role in determining the prices of goods and services related to tourism industry. But the exchange rate fluctuations are dependant on major economic factors unrelated to tourism industry. Research shows that there are various factors that affect outbound tourist traffic. These factors have direct links to every day circumstances. Out of all these factors the cost of domestic and overseas travel, cost of accommodations at destination, exchange rates, real income and demographic factors like population are most important. Hence it can be said that exchange rate is an important economic factor and it has a major influence on outbound and inbound travel as a variation in exchange rate affects the purchasing power of outbound visitors. We also infer that a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will be required to collect the data from different sources and it is not going to be an easy process. REFERENCES ABS (2004) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, Cat No. 5249.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. ABS (2003) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account 2001-2002, Cat No. 5249.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. ABS (2003) The Labour Force Australia, August 2003, Cat. No. 6201.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. ABS (2002) Year Book Australia 2002, International Inbound Tourism – Characteristics www.abs.gov.au [19.05.04] ABS (2002) Research and Experimental Development. All Sector Summary, Cat No. 8112.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Buhalis, D. (2000) Marketing the competitive destination in the future. Tourism Management 21 (1), 97–116. Coccossis, H., and P. Nijkamp, (editors) (1995). Sustainable Tourism Development. Avebury, Aldershot, UK Crompton, J.L., and P.K. Ankomah (1993). Choice Set Propositions in Destination Decisions. Annals of Tourism Research 20: 461-476. Crouch, G., (1992), “Effect of Income & Price on International Tourism”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 19, No.3, pp 643-644. Crouch G. (1994), “The Study of International Tourism Demand: a Review of Findings”, Journal of Travel Research,33,(1), Summer, 12-23. Crouch, G., (1995), “A Meta-Analysis of Tourism Demand,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp 103-118. Crouch, G., and Ritchie J.R.(1999) Competitive Tourism Destinations: combining theories of comparative advantage, working paper, Ninth Australian Tourism and Hospitality research Conference, Adelaide, February. Dwyer L., Forsyth P., Rao, and Valreio P. (1998) Australia: a Price Competitive Tourist Destination? Prepared by Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research and Centre for Efficiency and Productivity, in association with Arthur Andersen, Sydney, December. Dwyer, L., Forsyth P. and Rao P. (1999) "Tourism Price Competitiveness and Journey Purpose", Tourism, 47 (4):283-299. Dwyer, L. Forsyth P. and Rao P. (2000a) “ The Price Competitiveness of Travel and Tourism: a comparison of 19 Destinations”, Tourism Management, 21 (1): 9-22. Dwyer, L., Forsyth P. and Rao P. (2000b) " Sectoral Analysis of Destination Price Competitiveness: An International Comparison”, Tourism Analysis Vol. 5, pp1-12. Dwyer, L. Forsyth P. and Rao P. (2001) “ Destination Price Competitiveness: Exchange Rate Changes Vs Domestic Inflation”, forthcoming Journal of Travel Research. Dwyer L., N. Mistilis, P. Forsyth, P. Rao (2001) “The International Price Competitiveness of Australia's MICE Tourism Industry" International Journal of Tourism Research. Edwards, A., (1995), Asia-Pacific Travel Forecasts to 2005, Research Report, Economist Intelligence Unit, London Hamal, K. (1996), Substitutability Between Domestic and Outbound Travel in Australia, a working paper presented at the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 6-9 February. Hamal, Krishna (1996/97), Modeling Domestic Holiday Tourism Demand in Australia: Problems and Solutions, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 1(2), 35-46. Hamal, K. (1997), ‘Substitutability Between Domestic and Outbound Travel in Australia’, Pacific Tourism Review, 1(1), 23-33. Hamal, K., (1998), Australian Outbound Holiday Travel Demand: Long-haul Versus Short-haul. Analysis and Forecasting Paper presented at the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Hansen, F. (1976). Psychological Theories of Consumer Choice. Journal of Consumer Research 3: 117-142. Martin, C.A. and Witt, S.F., (1987), “Tourism Demand Forecasting Models: Choice of Appropriate Variable to Represent Tourists Cost of Living”, Tourism Management, pp 223-245. OECD (1987, 1993, 1997) Purchasing Power Parities and real Expenditures, Statistics Directorate, OECD, Paris Um, S., and J.L. Crompton (1990). Attitude Determinants in Tourism Destination Choice. Annals of Tourism Research 17: 432-448. Um, S., and J.L. Crompton (1992). The Roles of Preceived Inhibitors and Facilitators in Pleasure Travel Destination Decisions. Journal of Travel Research 30: 18-25. Woodside, A.G., and S. Lysonski (1989). A General Model to Traveller Destination Choice. Journal of Travel Research 27: 8-1 World Bank (1993), Purchasing Power of Currencies: Comparing National Incomes using ICP Data, International Economics Department, World Bank, Washington. World Bank (1998) Development Report, World Bank, Washington. Williams, A. M., and G. Shaw, (editors). (1988). Tourism and Economic Development: Western European Experiences. Belhaven, London, UK APPENDIX Table 1: Exports of tourism goods and services 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 International visitor consumption ($m) 12 792 13 446 14 611 17 140 17 080 16 700 Total Export ($m) 113 744 112 025 126 034 153 511 152 357 NA Tourism Share of Exports (%) 11.2 12.0 11.6 11.2 11.2 11.2 Growth in international visitor consumption (%) 5.1 8.7 17.3 -0.3 NA Growth in total exports (%) -1.5 12.5 21.8 -0.8 NA Source: ABS (2003) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account 2001-2002, 5249.0, p. 8 Table 2: Tourism share of consumption (per cent) 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 Households 67.9 67.7 66.9 65.0 65.9 67.2 Business/Govt. 10.8 11.0 10.9 10.8 10.2 10.2 Domestic 78.7 78.7 77.8 75.8 76.2 77.4 International 21.3 21.3 22.2 24.2 23.8 22.6 Source: ABS 2004 (Table 2) Table 3: Number of businesses in the tourism industry in Australia ANZSIC Industry No of businesses Total businesses Tourism characteristic industries Travel agency and tour operator services Taxi transport Air and Water transport Motor vehicle hiring Accommodation Cafes and restaurants Takeaway food retailing Total 5 346 2 472 2 168 990 9 158 21 493 18 427 60 054 ANZSIC Industry No of businesses Total businesses Tourism connected industries Clubs, pubs, taverns and bars Other road transport Rail transport Food and beverage manufacturing Transport equipment and other manufacturing Automotive fuel retailing Other retail trade Casinos and other gambling services Libraries, museums and arts Other entertainment services Education Ownership of dwellings Total 10 018 27 883 1 806 5 061 58 312 8 010 132 156 2 709 5 715 15 474 22 410 3 865 293 419 Total tourism related businesses 353 473 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998, ABS Business Register (unpublished data) Table 4: Number of management units by employment size for tourism ANZSIC industry Micro businesses(a) Small businesses(b) Medium to large businesses(c) Total businesses Travel agency and tour operator services 3 100 848 123 4 071 Taxi transport 1 946 397 55 2 398 Air and water transport 1 183 393 123 1 699 Motor vehicle hiring 516 175 19 707 Accommodation 4 429 2 610 701 7 740 Cafes and restaurants 9 475 8 678 1 272 19 425 Takeaway food retailing 10 877 4 608 733 16 218 Total tourism characteristic 31 523 17 709 3 026 52 258 Clubs, pubs, taverns and bars 3 113 4 462 1 884 9 459 Other road transport 21 376 3 841 688 25 905 Rail transport 20 8 14 42 Food and beverage manufacturing 1 636 1 617 1 001 4 254 Transport equipment and other manufacturing 29 033 17 561 6 199 52 793 Automotive fuel retailing 3 402 3 147 294 6 843 Other retail trade 85 113 34 894 3 999 124 006 Casinos and other gambling services 1 662 699 50 2 411 Libraries, museums and arts 3 032 616 206 3 854 Other entertainment services 9 056 3 079 1 037 13 172 Education 5 776 3 070 1 469 10 315 Ownership of dwellings 3 131 243 53 3 427 Total tourism connected 166 350 73 237 16 894 256 481 Total tourism related 197 873 90 946 19 920 308 739 (a)Businesses employing four or less persons (b)Businesses employing between 5 and 19 persons (c)Businesses employing 20 or more persons Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999, ABS Business Register (unpublished data) Read More