julian ledger

HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?

Julian Ledger, CEO -‐ YHA Ltd

Adventure & Backpacker Industry Conference 2010

length of stay down in latest International thumbrella Sept 2010

Backpacker numbers are up year on year but length of stay and spend are both down, according to the latest International Visitor Survey from Tourism Research Australia.

Figures for the year-‐ending June 30 2010 show 583,000 backpacker visitors compared to 560,000 for the equivalent period in 2008/09.


-‐ thumbrella Sept 2010

Quarterly analysis of the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) by YHA Ltd has revealed a starkly different and more gloomy picture than year-‐on-‐year comparisons of backpacker numbers.

Figures for the quarter ending June 30 2010 reveal 111,000 backpacker visitors spent 8,505,000 nights and A$632 million in Australia. However, figures for the same quarter in 2009 show there were 8,000 more visitors at 119,000 spending 9,469,000 nights and A$766 million.


Thumbrella through the year

DIAC confirms industry's worst fears as WHM visa grants suffer dramatic fall The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has confirmed the industry's worst-‐kept secret -‐

Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa grants are suffering a dramatic decline year-‐on-‐year

World Cup won't hit inbound adventure travel numbers -‐ but the return of the ash cloud might The soccer World Cup, which kicks off on June 11, will not adversely

The strong Australian dollar versus

the weak pound, a lack of jobs and competition from Asian destinations are all conspiring to make this winter one of the

Backpackers flock to the fields as GFC makes hospitality work scarce in the cities The global financial crisis is forcing backpackers to look for harvest work due to a shortage

of hospitality and bar jobs in cities, according to National Harvest Labour Information Service (NHLIS) manager

Grounds for cautious optimism, but things could get worse before better everyone I speak to seems to be 20 per cent down. my

research is based on about 10 but the 20 per


Backpacker industry trends

What data have we got?

International Visitor Survey (IVS) 40,000 exit surveys

Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) includes survey of all hostels with at least 25 beds

Tourist Visa and Working Holiday Visa Statistics -‐ Department of Immigration

Airport arrivals

Our own numbers arrivals, nights, sales, passengers, online multiple operations


General inbound market


Backpacker visitors by state

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

NSW 408 79 429 77 445 79 441 79 458 79

Vic 234 45 259 47 253 45 254 45 259 44

Qld 344 67 352 63 360 64 363 65 368 63

SA 91 18 103 19 91 16 93 17 99 17

WA 93 18 104 19 103 18 107 19 97 17

Tas 39 8 40 7 44 8 42 7 36 6

NT 121 23 124 22 112 20 120 21 121 21

ACT 36 7 37 7 36 6 39 7 36 6

Total 517 100 556 100 564 100 560 100 583 100


Backpacker nights by state

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

NSW 11483 31 12,569 31 12,355 31 13,361 31 13655 32

Vic 5,747 16 6,137 15 6,019 15 6,561 15 6514 15

Qld 10,207 29 12,570 31 12,573 32 14,021 32 13688 32

SA 1,523 4 1,553 4 1,610 4 1,693 4 1749 4

WA 3,736 11 4,519 11 4,449 11 5,002 11 4129 10

Tas 610 2 788 2 819 2 775 2 684 2

NT 1,238 4 1,315 3 1,209 3 1,473 3 1651 4

268 349 1 471 1 414 1 683 2 664 2

Total 34,893 100 39,922 100 39,449 100 43,570 100 42734 100



Backpacker visitors by state

Accommodation used by backpackers

2008/9 Nights 2009/10 Nights

Hotel, resort, motel, motor inn 1,484 3 1,406 3

Backpacker hostel 15,026 34 14,379 34

Rented house/flat 13,869 32 14,449 34

Home of friend/relative 4,403 10 4,686 11

Caravan park/commercial camping ground 1,774 4 1,607 4

Caravan/camping by side of the road 871 2 745 2

Educational institution 1,584 4 1,485 3

Homestay 2,726 6 2,072 5

Other 1,826 4 1,877 4

TOTAL 43,563 100 42,706 100

2010



Accommodation used by backpackers

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NSW Victoria QLDSource: IVS (TRA)

The changes to the Working Holiday Maker Visa in 2005/06 has fuelled growth in the number of backpackers


International backpackers to visitor hostels in NSW, Victoria and QLD -‐ rolling annual time series

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New South Wales Victoria QueenslandSource: IVS (TRA)


International backpacker nights spent in visitor hostels in NSW, Victoria and QLD - rolling annual time series

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State % share of international backpacker visitors to visitor hostels in Australia - rolling annual time series

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New South Wales Victoria QueenslandSource: IVS (TRA)

State % share of international nights in visitor hostels in Australia - rolling annual time-series


Backpacker Visitors


Backpacker Visitor Nights


Backpacker Expenditure



Working Holiday Visa -‐Grants

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1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Working Holiday Visa Grants seasonality


Hostel summary


State performance

Guest Nights Occupied

NSW NT Qld

Bed OccupancyNSW NT Qld



Average Bed Rate


Revenue Per Available Bed

FIFA World Cup

2002 Japan and Korea 2006 Germany2010 South Africa2014 Brazil (13 hours behind Aust)2018? Belgium/Netherlands, England,

Russia or Spain/Portugal2022? Australia, USA, Japan, Korea

or Qatar


Backpacker Accom in Australia -‐June 2010 snapshot

386hostels (down 18)

46,091bed spaces (up 363)3,265

people employed

$1.4BnEstimated total investment in backpacker accom

3 millionguest arrivals (- 2%)

8.6 millionguest nights (- 5%)

51.4%average occupancy (down from 54.5%)

2.9 nightsAverage length of stay

$237MTakings (down $10M)


julian ledger

Documents

backpacker visitors

backpacker industry

backpacker hostel

international backpackers

year diac

visitor hostels

nights hotel

dramatic decline year