Price of visas may negatively impact Australia’s tourism

The Australia Tourism Export Council (ATEC) is concerned that a planned increase to the cost of Working Holiday Visas will negatively impact tourism in Australia.

Visa increase will impact youth market: ATEC

ATEC managing director Felicia Mariani said the youth travel market plays an important role in our inbound visitation, spending considerably more than the average international visitor.

“Young people visiting Australia, and working holiday makers in particular stay around eight months and spend over $13,000 each,” Ms Mariani said.

The UN World Tourism Organization says that the youth travel sector of tourism is worth over $185billion USD worldwide.

“If the WHV is one of our major drawcards in an increasingly competitive global tourism landscape, the Government should be supporting the industry by bringing down the barriers and increasing our competitiveness.”

I would love to see Working Holiday Visas become prevalent in other countries as well.