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Tourism Australia has promoted its executive general manager international, Philippa Harrison, to managing director, an appointment that comes as the destination seeks to bolster tourism spend by attracting more higher-spending international arrivals.
Harrison, the first female head at Tourism Australia, has been with national tourism organization for three years. In her previous position at the group, she oversaw a network of international offices spanning 12 countries, as well as managed airline relationships and distribution channels.
She held the acting managing director role for seven months following the resignation of John O’Sullivan who left to join Experience Co, an Australian-listed adventures provider.
Harrison said the opportunity to lead Tourism Australia is “a career high.”
“This is a period of change, challenge and opportunity for our industry,” she said in a statement. “With competition for the global travel wallet and the demands of the international traveller ever increasing and both global and Australian tourism facing a number of significant headwinds, the need for a strong, cohesive and united industry has never been greater.
“My focus is very much on making sure that Tourism Australia continues to lead from the front, through creative and high impact marketing but also through the important distribution and partnership platforms we provide to industry.”
Significant Headwinds
International arrivals to Down Under are expected to grow at a more moderate rate through 2028-29, warned Tourism Forecasts 2019 released by Tourism Research Australia on September 6.
The government tourism research agency attributes this to “a weakening international economic outlook, the U.S.-China trade tensions and Brexit uncertainty in the short term.”
On the positive side however, the lower Australian dollar will help Australian destinations stay competitive, it said. As well, the agency expects increases in aviation capacity and accommodation supply to drive growth of international arrivals.
According to Tourism Australia Research figures, Australia received 8.5 million foreign arrivals in the year ending March 2019, a 3 percent increase over fiscal 2018. Spending rose 5 percent to $30.5 billion (A$44.3 billion).
China remained Australia’s leading tourism market, with numbers increasing a modest 3 percent to 1.3 million visitors, although spending by tourists on trips rose 10 percent to $8.3 billion (A$12 billion).
India posted the strongest growth, with visitor numbers up 15 percent to 343,000 and trip spending jumping 12 percent to reach a record $1.2 billion (A$1.7 billion).