BEIJING, Jul 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Worsening relations with China could hurt the recovery of Australia’s tourism industry, a researcher of Edith Cowan University in Perth, warned.
Chinese travellers are unlikely to return to Australia in the same numbers as before the COVID-19 pandemic, unless diplomatic relations between the two countries improve, Sam Huang said, in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“The current situation of the Australia-China relationship, I would say, would be a big barrier for our future tourism recovery,” said Huang, a research professor in tourism and services marketing, in the School of Business and Law of Edith Cowan University.
China was Australia’s largest inbound tourist market, for both arrivals and spending in 2019, according to Tourism Australia, a government agency.
There were 758,551 holiday arrivals from China in the year to Dec, 2019, out of 1.4 million total short-term visitor arrivals, ABC reported.– NNN-XINHUA
