Minister Bettison said, “Despite the challenges our state and the rest of the world have endured in the last two years, the South Australian tourism industry continues to go from strength to strength, with almost two-thirds of business owners and operators stating that despite the rising business costs they are ‘confident’ or ‘extremely confident’ as visitor expenditure in SA continues to increase.”
While the short-term business outlook has softened because of these challenges, the resilience of the South Australian tourism industry is reflected in the 12-month outlook, where almost two-thirds of businesses are ‘confident’ or ‘extremely confident’.
‘Our Tourism Industry Recovery Agenda remains critical to ensuring businesses stay afloat and recover and rebuild from the impacts of the last 2.5 years. South Australia continues to claw back the $5.3bn lost in visitor expenditure.’
‘Labour shortages, rising inflation, and an uncertain economy take the shine off what looks to be a pathway to the strong recovery of the tourism industry,’ Mr de Bruyn said.
After a challenging two and half years, South Australia’s tourism industry is enjoying a return to positive business activity. Still, rising costs, inflation, and labour shortages threaten business confidence. The Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA), the state’s peak tourism industry body, has released the results of its latest Industry Sentiment survey.
‘It is heartening to have a formal commitment to work collaboratively with the State Government to address issues and priorities of the tourism industry.
As a government, we acknowledge that staffing and wages remain the key challenges for business operators in the tourism industry. ‘We must emphasise that recovery isn’t immediate, and despite things looking bright, we must continue to work with industry to build their resilience.’
TiCSA CEO Shaun de Bruyn said that the positive business activity is promising. Still, the survey results are a reminder that recovery from COVID-19 will not be a swift and smooth journey. While the return of interstate and international visitors is making a positive impact, rising business costs were identified as the biggest challenge for almost two-thirds of businesses.
“Market shares across all segments remain relatively high compared to historical levels. According to the latest STR data, we are also thrilled that accommodation occupancy in regional SA was 56% up in June 2022, well above the pre-COVID June 2019 result of 48%.”
Minister for Tourism, the Hon Zoe Bettison MP, echoes the optimistic long-term outlook of Mr de Bruyn and the industry. Just 25% of businesses increased their workforce over the June quarter, while 45% reported an increase in wage expenses, many citing that this was to attract and retain staff in a tight, competitive market. These issues have been identified nationwide, with the two highest ranked concerns being a lack of staff and rising staff costs. As one respondent aptly states, ‘COVID [is] impacting on staff availability and needing to have more staff trained to cover gaps… The increasing costs of doing business are also starting to flow to customers, with 45% of businesses reporting they had increased their prices since last year.
To view the full June quarter Tourism Barometer Report, please click here.
Written by: Jill Walsh
