Target China’s student mass

EDUCATION tourism seems to be the way forward for the Far North to grow the numbers and spending from China.

The latest International Visitor Survey results for all of last year show a drop in Chinese visitor numbers by 5.5 per cent to 206,000, still our biggest source, but not reflecting the national growth.

International visitation to the region was down by 2.7 per cent to 863,000, the holiday market declined by 5 per cent to 786,000 visitors, while interestingly, the visiting friends and relatives sector was up by 21.3 per cent and business travel by 54.3 per cent.

Education expenditure grew nationally by 19.3 per cent in Eastern markets.

Nationally education spending was up 16.6 per cent to $11.3b, more than any other sector, including holidaymakers ($10.1b).

China alone accounted for $1.3b of the extra $1.6bn in education expenditure growth last year.

This amount represented 91 per cent of China’s expenditure increase in Australia.

According to Tourism and Events Queensland, education also drove the growth in Chinese visitor expenditure to Queensland, which totalled $1.4bn last year, up 25.4 per cent.

The good news for the Far North is that spending was stable (up 0.2%) at $1.1bn as a 1.6 per cent decrease in visitor nights (to 6.3 million) was offset by a 1.7 per cent increase in visitor spend per night (to $170 per night).

The Far North has a progressive and futuristic education sector led by Study Cairns.

The Chinese leisure market is dropping off, but it appears that the student market has the most promise. Nick Dalton Deputy editor