A predicted 3.3 percent increase in international arrivals is no excuse to cut back on marketing efforts, according to Tourism and Transport Forum’s (TTF) head.

TTF chief executive John Lee said Tourism Forecasting Committee’s announcement that Australia would see the one percent climb in overseas tourism in 2011 to 2012 and a further 3.3 percent jump in 2012 to 2013 was not an opportunity to slack off on promotions but instead sees it as an incentive to push more international marketing activity.

Concerned the government may pull funding out of stable tourism markets and into others such as Asia, Mr Lee stressed decreasing activity in growing markets could “risk losing market share to” competitors.

“An increased focus on marketing activity in Asia, including China, must be funded with additional money, not by shifting resources from other areas,” he said.  

“Arrivals from all other markets will remain steady at around 3.5 million, still accounting for 69 per cent of all international visitors.

“This clearly shows the need to continue to market Australia aggressively in non-Asian countries, which includes many of our traditional European and North American markets.

“Decreasing activity in other countries risks losing market share to our competitors and undoing all the hard work that has been done over recent years in positioning Australia as a must-see destination.”

Mr Lee added that although he understands that the governments’ “budgets are under pressure”, cutting tourism funding would not do favours for the economy.

“While this may appear to be counter-intuitive, cutting marketing funding will result in decreased visitation, leading to lower economic activity and therefore job opportunities, especially in regional areas,” he said.  

“Tourism activity has a significant multiplier effect, so the return on investment in tourism marketing means it stacks up as an appropriate use of government money.”

According to the forecast, the Asian market is predicted to escalate by up to 5.6 percent over the next financial year compared to the last while domestic tourism across Australia is expected to remain steady with 0.7 percent growth over financial year 2012 to 2013.