Let wealthy visitors pay to jump customs and immigration queues, Australia’s peak tourism industry body says

TOURISTS should be able to pay extra to fast-track immigration and customs, Australia’s peak tourism industry body says.

Rich visitors would be able to speed through immigration and customs under the plan to we

WEALTHY travellers will be able to pay to skip long queues at immigration and customs under a plan being pushed by Australia’s peak tourism industry body.

The Tourism & Transport Forum wants to encourage big-spending visitors from Asia and elsewhere by offering the user-pays premium visitor visa processing model.

The call follows comments from casino tycoon James Packer saying Australia should be making it easier for Chinese tourists to visit.

“Premium processing is a great opportunity to deliver a quicker process for visitors willing to pay more,” TTF chief executive Ken Morrison said.

A fast-track service in Dubai charges visitors up to $95.

“This could include shorter turnaround for the approval process and a VIP experience on arrival in Australia.

“This doesn’t reduce the level of scrutiny, just speeds up the process for application and once they get here.”

The plan echoes other planned or existing programs that provide preferential treatment to people passing through immigration.

In the UK, authorities have outlined plans to allow holiday-makers and business travellers who pay an extra fee to skip the passport queue at London’s congested Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

A number of airlines - including Qantas - also offer expedited immigration processing for first and business class passengers at selected airports, but the TTF’s plan would open this to anyone willing to pay for the privilege.

The TTF did not want to speculate on how much it would cost, but a similar service in Dubai charges visitors up to $95.

It is part of a range of TTF proposals aimed at drawing more tourists to Australia, which it says would address concerns the country is falling behind.

These include allowing online visitor visa processing for tourists from vital visitor markets such as China, and producing visa application forms in Chinese and other key Asian languages.

The TTF would also like to see the introduction of three-year, multiple entry visas to Chinese leisure visitors.

“Earlier this year, the Abbott government introduced three-year, multiple entry visas for Chinese business visitors and we’d encourage them to do the same for leisure visitors,” Mr Morrison said.

“Extending visitor visas from 12 to 36 months would not only encourage repeat visitation but also reduce the administrative burden on Australia and deliver on the government’s pre-election promise.”

It contrasted Australia’s more restrictive polices with European Union plans announced this week to simplify visa red-tape in a move it estimates could generate up to 1.3 million new tourism jobs within five years.

China remains Australia’s fastest growing and most valuable inbound tourism market, with 709,300 Chinese visitor arrivals in 2013 spending approximately $4.7 billion.

Billionaire casino mogul James Packer this week told News Corp Australia that Australia should be making it easier for Chinese tourists to visit.

“I don’t think we’re in a Cold War anymore,” he said.

“The dollar’s at 91 cents because of China, not because of America, and we all benefit from that, so let’s not be hypocrites.
“The visa processing system for Chinese tourists has recently improved but there’s more work to do in this area and each day we waste costs Australia a great amount of tourism dollars. The fact that visas are done in English, not Mandarin, that’s stupid. The fact that they’re not done online, that’s stupid.”

New figures released at an Australian business events showcase in Shanghai this week showed future spending by Chinese visitors to Australia could rise to $13 billion by 2020.

“We are seeing positive signs of a change in the visitor mix from China - a shift to a more independent, higher spending Chinese visitor, enjoying higher quality visitor experiences,” Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said.

“This is exactly the lucrative market we are actively targeting.”