The strong Australian dollar has Aussies spending it up overseas while inbound tourists to the country are spending less.
According to the Visa Travel Snapshot for 2011, Australians are taking advantage of the strong AUD by travelling abroad and spending $6.8 billion on their Visa cards, an increase of 5.9 percent compared to the previous year.
Australians spent up big in Indonesia who experienced the highest increase in Australian visitor spending, up 18.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Other destinations where Australians increased their spending included the US, UK and New Zealand.
The story is quite different however for inbound travellers who are feeling the pinch with a 7.6 percent decline in the amount of spending in Australia on Visa cards by visitors.
Visitors from the UK, US and New Zealand were the highest spenders in Australia when visiting.
While Visa's country manager for Australia, Vipin Kalra said Australia was still a popular tourist destination, spending in the country had been impacted because of the strong Australian dollar.
"Out of the top ten tourist source markets for Australia, China and Singapore were the only two countries to record growth in visitor spending during 2011,” Vipin Kalra said.
Source : e-Travel Blackboard
