CANBERRA, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tourism in South Australia (SA) has been described as a "lost opportunity" after the state failed to claim the share of the national tourism pie it once enjoyed, local industry analysis showed.
According to the report of News Corp Australia on Monday, about 3.5 percent of the money spent by international visitors to Australia in financial year 2018-19 was spent in the state, down from 4.2 percent less than a decade ago, Tourism Industry Council SA says.
The decline represents an approximate loss of 1 billion Australian dollars (676 million U.S. dollars) every year for the South Australian economy, according to the council.
The analysis was seized upon by the South Australian Opposition who declared tourism a "lost opportunity" for the state but was rejected by the government, with Tourism Minister David Ridgway saying that tourism was "a super-growth sector" for the state's economy.
"We are well on track to reach our target of an 8 billion Australian dollars (5.4 billion USD) visitor economy by the end of 2020," he said.
"This is great news for our tourism sector but also the number of international hotel brands that have recently invested in our state to increase the room supply over the next few years."
