Qantas expects outbound travel to remain buoyant

Qantas says that Australian travellers are quite resilient, even during times of economic difficulties. In looking at past data, the carrier points to other economic downturns – when Aussies have continued to travel abroad. On the other hand, the inbound tourism market does not show the same resiliency.

Travellers around the world are begin to curtail spending over the coming months and businesses are cutting back significantly on travel expenses, but Qantas remains optimistic that outbound figures, at least in the short-term, will be steady.

“Outbound residents, domestic and regional [travel], passenger numbers driven by Australian economic activity are very, very resilient to recession,” said Qantas Economic Research Group Chief Economist, Tony Webber, at the recent Australasian Economic Travel and Tourism Resilience Forum.

He added: “They virtually never go negative, except for in times of significant external shocks, not economic shocks but other shocks, such as September 11 and the Bali bombings. Which is good news, Aussies are very resilient to economic slowdown.”

Webber went on to say: “This is true for outbound travel and it’s true for domestic travel – which the only time it [domestic] has ever fallen negative was the pilots strike in the late 1980s and during the collapse of Ansett. This appears to suggest that travel has become part of Australian culture, and we’re less likely to give this up despite economic pressures.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.qantas.com.au