Further Australian tourism construction to come during dollar downturn: RBA's Philip Lowe
The exchange rate depreciation is helping the tourism sector, according to the Reserve Bank deputy governor Philip Lowe.
In a recent speech he noted Australia's long-term economic growth rate has typically averaged about 3.25%, but may have fallen below 3%.
"As the relative cost of overseas travel has increased, more Australians are holidaying domestically and more people are visiting our shores," he noted.
"Encouragingly, we are now seeing some signs that this change in travel patterns is prompting a pick-up in investment in the tourism industry.
"In particular, there has been a noticeable increase in the stock of work to be done in the construction of hotel and related accommodation (Graph 10).
"The RBA's liaison with tourism-related businesses suggests that further increases in investment in this area are likely in coming years," he noted to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia audience.
Graph 10
