Summary

Based on surveys of Chinese, UK, American and domestic tourists, results show that tourism areas adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef risk losing over 1 million visitors per year, worth over $1 billion in tourism expenditure. This expenditure supports around 10,000 tourism jobs in regional Queensland, which are also considered at-risk.

While many potential visitors will seek out other Australian attractions, this research finds that many will choose to not visit Australia at all. Based on polling of China, UK and USA, almost 175,000 people each year from these countries are more likely to visit a country other than Australia if bleaching persists.

This is the equivalent of 436 Boeing 747 jet loads of holiday makers not coming to Australia each year, and potential lost spending of over $1 billion per year.