Interview: The Chinese are the biggest penders whenever they travel
>> australia’s tourism agency starts its campaign to attract more hong kong visitors to australia. australia and hong kong are set to double flights between them to 70 a week within the next 12 months. record numbers of visitors from mainland china head to australia for more, i’m joined by greig mcallan in the hong kong studio, general manager for asia at tourism australia. good to have you with us. the chinese are the biggest penders whenever they travel. how much do they spend their money on when in australia.
>> just under $4,000. the highest yielding traveler we have in the world.
>> what does that mean for tourism receipts?
>> that means the chinese are part of the asian bigger group, around about 25% of all our revenue and passenger numbers into australia. it will grow to 36% by 2013.
>> what do they spend the money on?
>> shopping mainly and in the case of some asians, a little bit of gambling because we have casinos in australia.
>> what are your forecasts for the next five years as to the travel with the increased flights between hong kong and australia?
>> china will emerge by 2013 as australia’s single biggest source of tourists. it will eclipse a million by 2013 in the context of an asian total of over five million by that stage. so china is leading the growth out of asia into australia and the reasons are fairly obvious when you look at the economy and emergence of the middle class.
>> is that included in the seat rates or the rate at which chinese visitors return to australia to visit?
>> it will eventually. hong kong is high repeatership. 35% of hong kong visitors have been there before. mainland china is just starting and reportership will grow as the market grows.
>> you expect growth of 17% per anum over the next 10 years and over a million visitors by 2013. what about the awp dollar and its strength against the u.s. dollar. what risk would that have to your forecasts?
>> the currency has a risk but it’s very difficult for us to forecast where the currency will be next week let alone in 2013. it’s one of those things that i guess we have no control over, we just market around. and historically, at least in the past, australia has had a high dollar that has dropped and gone up again. i’m not particularly worried about the strength of the dollar, but more worried about the strength of the yuan.
>> what if a revaluation comes in within the next, say, 12 months? what effect would that have to your forecast?
>> it would impact the forecast but remember that if there is a revaluation in the china currency, it effects all the other―affects all the other currencies, the u.s. dollar, the pound, what have you.
>> so tell affect the spending power of the chinese that visit australia?
>> it could. on the flipside, it’s going to be cheaper for others to come to australia. if currency goes up, other currencies have to devalue.
>> give us an idea what the typical profile of the chinese visitor is? are they more holiday makers or business travelers?
>> they’re the holiday makers. chinese traditionally haven’t been able to travel outside of their country for holiday purposes until the last few years so the chinese visiting australia are sightseers, they want to look, see, take pictures and get home. over the coming years, that will change and they’ll want to reach out and touch more of what they see in australia. they’ll be self developers that want to explore but not at this stage. very early in the maturation of the market .
>> are you seeing more independent travelers?
>> mostly group but we see independent travelers, a sign of the maturing nature of the market . the japanese market took 20 years to geta to that point and the chips market will take five to get to the point where independent travelers emerge from the market . just starting to see it now.
>> phil mickelson to launch a campaign in mainland china? >> absolutely. within this month we’ll have the campaign for tourism australia in shanghai and beijing and we’ll spend a lot of know moet in china.
>> why those cities?
>> that’s where the air flights come from, where we’re able to market . you need the chinese government’s approval to market your destination in china. they are two of the key regions where we market . the sort of money we’re talking about, the vicinity of $4.5 million australian per anum.
>> is that expected to grow in the fixture five years?
>> i would expect it would, yes.
>> how much?
>> 10%, 12%. i would say it would keep pace with the growth of the market , commensurate.
>> good to talk to you.
>> thank you very much.
>> greig mcallan of tourism australia in hong kong. b.h.p. billiton may make a cash offer for rival r.m.c. resources. our reporter in sydney looks at the possible offer.
在线播报
Listen Market briefing - Cathy (medium)
Texas Instruments -- Su (fast)
World news -- Ron (slow)
>> welcome back, this is “ live” in hong kong. i’m catherine yang. texas instruments shares fall in extended trading after narrowing its sales and profit forecast. we’ll have a live report from new york in a moment. here are the headlines―b.h.p. billiton considers making a competing bid for australian nickel miner w.m.c. resources. b.h.p. is considering an all-cash offer to rival xstrata’s bid. boeing ousts chief executive harry stonecipher after he’s caught having an affair with an employee,. he’s the second boeing c.e.o. to lose his job amidst a scandal in the past two years. the s&p 500 gains for the third straight session, closing at a 3 1/2 year high. texas instruments says first-quarter sales and profit will not meet the high end of earlier forecasts as clients work off inventories and demand falls for chips used in large-screen televisions. bloomberg’s su keenan has been monitoring the texas instruments conference call and joins us in new york with details. what’s the latest, su?
>> well, reaction of shares shows some investor disappointment as the world’s largest maker of computer chips used in cell phones narrowed its profit and sales forecast,gating disappointing is the way that rick whittington described it. revenue will be 2.9 billion to 3.03 billion, compared to a range of $2.9 billion to 3.14 billion. net income will be 22 to 24 cents a share, compared to a forecast with the higher end of 26 cents. notice the company says demand for d.l.p. chips used in largescreen tv’s and projectors is falling below earlier predictions. that is the big surprise according to susquehanna financial group’s tainguyn. he says clients continue to work off inventories.
>> entering 2005, there’s a lot of pessimism about high inventory out there. based on our check, i think end demand is seasonally strong. on the supply front, things remain to be very healthy. what we’re seeing inventory-wise, looks pretty lean out there. overall, we look at the handset market , seems to be trending very well so far in 2005. >> investors such as capital management’s say low-chip industry has led many customers to order more chips.
>> nokia seizing market share, selling more phones, getting back on track. we see that as a boost to texas instruments.
>> as for the d.l.p. chips used in televisions, texas instruments says at this hour that tv sales did not meet its expectations and its tv customers have excess chip inventory to work through. credit suisse’s analyst is optimistic in terms of cell phone chips about the company’s leadership with 3g.
>> absolutely. they’re the leader in 3g. they have two types of 3g -- umtf vertion and the cdma 2000 version and we think they’re well positioned in the larger standard of 3g with revenue on the two key areas and as they move to 3g, their a.s.p. doubles and sometimes goes higher than that so they have a positive current going into 3g.
>> and just to bring you up to date on the final comments crossing the conference call, texas instruments says commodity chip prices are stabilizing. as you know, some concern that as inventories remain out there, that prices will fall in order to cut those inventories. texas instruments seems toon assuring investors they are working through those inventories without cutting prices. back to you.
>> we will have to see how asia reacts to texas instruments’ update. some changes in the s&p to tell you about. national oil well, varco is to replace power-one. yellow pages group is buying advertising director solutions holdings from bain capital for $2 billion u.s. in cash. the move will help yellow pages groove expand in western canada. yellow pages is canada’s biggest phone director business while advertising director solutions is the second biggest in the country. yellow pages lost out of bain capital for super pages last year when wane purchased it from verizon communications. yellow pages is pay a premium, 565 million canadian dollars for super pages compared to what bane paid. under bane’s ownership, super pages increased profits. in world news, ron madison is in tokyo. that’s the latest.
>> the bush administration named state department arms control official, john bolton, as u.s. ambassador to the united nations. he will replace john danforth. u.s. secretary of state condoleezza rice says she and the president do have full confidence in bolton. he arrives at the u.n. amid probes into fraud and mismanagement of the oil-for-food program for iraq. bolton has been a vocal critic of the effectiveness of the u.n. insurgents kill 31 and wound doesons in iraq. a military spokesman says militants killed two iraqi shoulders in balad. the associated press reports local police say 12 people were killed in that attack. in baquova, iraqi security forces say 15 died following attacks with roadside bombs and small arms fire n.baghdad, a.p. says a roadside bomb killed two civilians and gunmen killed two policemen. and syrian soldiers in lebanon will retreat to the eastern border before the end of march.
>> military officials from both countries will decide how many troops will remain and for how long of the the development follows a meeting of the presidents of syria and lebanon, meeting in damascus. the vatican says pope john paul ii will probably be out of the hospital in time for holy week. holy week begins with palm sunday march 20 and culminates a week later on easter sunday, the most important date on the christian calendar. a spokesman says the 84-year-old has suffered no complications since his trachiat me last month but doctors have cautioned him not to use his voice too much. good news there. that’s the latest look at world news.
>> thanks for that, ron. after the break, tourist destination says around the world wants to cash in as beijing makes it easier for the citizens to travel abroad.
