Data shows impact of bushfires and COVID-19 on tourism jobs

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Released
6/08/2020
Source
Tourism Satellite Accounts: quarterly tourism labour statistics, Australia, experimental estimates, March 2020

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released new statistics on tourism employment and jobs.

The Tourism Satellite Account: quarterly tourism labour statistics captures the impact of the December 2019 and January 2020 bushfires and the beginning of international travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

Head of ABS Tourism Statistics, Amanda Clark, said the experimental estimates show that the March quarter took a heavier toll on tourism jobs than on jobs in the overall economy.

"The number of filled jobs in the tourism industry fell 3.0% between March 2019 and March 2020, while economy wide filled jobs grew by 1.7%," Ms Clark said.

"While many areas of tourism activity were adversely affected, filled jobs in Accommodation services fell the most decreasing 11,600 jobs between March 2019 and March 2020."

Ms Clark added: “Tourism activities tend to be labour intensive and this data shows the impact of the bushfires and the early stages of COVID-19 on the tourism industry."

Domestic COVID-19 pandemic restrictions came in to effect from 21 March and may have had minimal impact on the results captured in this release. The June quarter release will show further impacts of COVID-19 on tourism activity. This is scheduled for release in late September.

Further information is available in Tourism Satellite Account: quarterly tourism labour statistics, Australia, experimental estimates (cat. no. 5249.0.55.005).

Media notes

  • These statistics are based on data released in the Labour Account, Australia, March 2020 (cat. no. 6150.0.55.003).
  • The additional ABS products being published to understand the economic impact of the coronavirus can be found on the ABS COVID-19 page.
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
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