AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Australia welcomes record number of Chinese tourists

Monday, 28 May 2007

The Australian tourism market reached a high point last week by welcoming its 300,000th Chinese visitor under the Approved Destination Scheme.

The Approved Destination Scheme also known as the ADS is a mutual tourism arrangement between the Chinese Government and Australia whereby Chinese tourists are permitted to undertake leisure travel in groups.

Together with New Zealand, Australia was one of the first western countries to be granted ADS status in 1999. The scheme has grown significantly over recent years, bringing more than 55,000 ADS visa holders to Australia’s shores throughout 2005-06.

Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Teresa Gambaro said applications for the ADS had greatly increased since it was expanded to include the whole of the People’s Republic of China in August last year, resulting in about 23% more ADS visas granted between August 1, 2006 and January 30, 2007 compared to the same period in 2005-06.

‘The ADS ensures that Chinese tourists have timely and convenient access to visas for Australia and that Australia can benefit from the more than 12% annual growth expected in the Chinese tourism market,’ Ms Gambaro said.

‘Over the busy Chinese New Year period, the Australian Embassy in Beijing received more than 1100 ADS visa applications in one day,’ she said.

Ms Gambaro said the scheme successfully provided an avenue for a large number of Chinese tourists to visit Australia, while ensuring high levels of integrity and compliance with visa conditions.

‘Despite such growing numbers, Australia’s ADS continues to be a success story in terms of compliance rates and is often cited as a model scheme globally,’ she said.

China is Australia’s fastest-growing inbound tourism market, and is forecast to grow at more than 12% over the next decade, resulting in over 900,000 Chinese visitors per year by 2015.