Tourism boom will see more travellers this summer, and here’s how you can make the most of it

SPENT too much this season already? This month could be the perfect opportunity to make a bit of cash on the side. Here’s how.

WE ARE a generous people, us Australians.

And each year we get more generous. This year, for the first time, we will set a record — hosting a million visitors.

That’s the number of tourists that are likely to come to Australia in December, based on the growth in tourists so far this year.

December is always our biggest month for tourists and 2016 has been a record year for arrivals. We should get ready for a whopper month.

Santa, travelling cricket teams and lots of tourists. Source: ABS 3401 Overseas arrivals and departures. 2016 is extrapolated based on 2016 growth rates.

December 2016 is likely to see nearly double as many tourists as in May this year and 66 per cent more than December 2008.

They come for many reasons — to watch cricket, to visit beaches made of actual sand not just rocks, or maybe to experience a Christmas where the sun doesn’t set at 3.30pm.

(All tourists come more in December, but especially ones from the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, where Christmas is a dark and gloomy time of year.)

Source: ABS 3401 Overseas arrivals and departures.

No matter why they come, we should get ready.

They’re going to be standing on street corners holding a map looking lost. They’re going to be driving rental cars badly on country roads. They’re going to be in the shops staring confused but also curious at the Golden Gaytimes.

We can help them. And we can help ourselves in the process.

The number of hotel rooms in Australia has not grown as fast as the number of tourists, and that makes for a big opportunity for the average person.

This month could be the perfect opportunity to put your place online and make a bit of cash on the side, hosting people from somewhere exotic. If you let out a house in Melbourne in the week before Christmas you could make over $1000. If you let out just one room you could clear over $500.

The whole economy is likely to benefit from the tourist influx, as they eat out in our restaurants and take away shops, and ride in our taxis and Ubers.

Tourism counts as an export and it is creating more jobs than ever. That is one reason why the tourism industry got so mad at the government’s plan for a new 32.5% tax on work by backpackers, which would likely scare tourists away.

‘‘The tourism industry has made it very clear that we will not sit back and be treated as a ‘cash cow’ by any Government or any political party,” said the head of the Tourism and Transport Forum, Margy Osmond, this week.

“We have a voice and it is growing in strength.”

She’s right.

Tourism is a massive part of our future economy, and this record month is probably only the start of a long boom. The Australian dollar has fallen a lot against the US dollar, and could soon fall more as the US economy picks up. That makes our great nation even cheaper to visit.

Source: RBA

We should do our best to welcome all these tourists, and not just by losing to them at cricket. So, this month, offer someone directions on the street. Remind them patiently that we drive on the left, or help them understand the difference between a Dim Sim and a Tim Tam.

You could also explain to them that vegemite doesn’t need to be spread on like peanut butter. But maybe don’t. Some things, after all, are more fun when you discover them for yourself.

— Jason Murphy is an economist. He publishes the blog Thomas The Think Engine. Follow him on Twitter @jasemurphy.