Packer slams Chinese visa rules, saying they are hampering tourism

JAMES Packer has called on the Federal Government to throw the door open to Chinese tourists, saying strict visa requirements are “stupid’’.

James Packer, outside Macau Crown Towers, says current visa rules are harming our tourism

BILLIONAIRE gaming and tourism tsar James Packer has called on the Federal Government to throw the door open to Chinese tourists, saying strict visa requirements are “stupid’’.

In an exclusive interview with News Corp in the Chinese gaming mecca of Macau, Mr Packer said it was hypocritical to treat wealthy Chinese tourists differently to wealthy American tourists.

Chinese tourists now spend more money in Tasmania than any other nationality, pumping $23 million into the state last year.

And Mr Packer said they could create tens of thousands of new jobs in Australian tourism, and each day of delay cost money.

It is understood Mr Packer was in Hobart recently looking at local opportunities.

A source claims he was briefed on the Macquarie Point development and has appointed a local agent as his representative.

“Why should the visa requirements for a wealthy Chinese visitor wanting to come to Australia be any harder than the visa requirements for a wealthy American wanting to come and holiday in Australia?’’ he said.

“I don’t think we’re in a Cold War anymore. I think 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 improved recently, but there is 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 it’s not done online, that’s stupid.

“I think over 70 countries can apply for an Australian tourist visa online but China isn’t one of them.’’

Mr Packer, whose estimated $7.3 billion fortune has seen him ranked the 211th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine, has built a sizeable portion of his wealth through attracting wealthy Chinese gamblers and tourists.

About $1 billion of Crown’s $2.8 billion revenue in Australia last financial year came from overseas visitors – the vast majority from China.

Mr Packer will next week join Prime Minister Tony Abbott on a trade mission to Japan and China.

He said the rise of the Chinese middle class was hugely important to the Australian economy.

The Mercury recently reported Hobart Lord Mayor Damon Thomas had held talks with four major Chinese airlines in Melbourne at a meeting facilitated by the consul general for the People’s Republic of China.

Managers from China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China and Sichuan Airlines attended the high-powered meeting.

And to highlight the growing link between the countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Hobart, possibly in November, which could be beamed into more than 400 million Chinese homes.

President Xi is expected to travel to Tasmania after attending the G20 summit, which will be held in Brisbane from November 15-16.

He received the invitation from former premier Lara Giddings during her visit to China last year.

Mr Packer, 46, inherited a gaming and media business from his father Kerry, who died in 2005, and has spent the past 10 years consolidating the business into a gaming behemoth.

In a wide-ranging interview in the Crown Towers casino resort he partly owns in Macau, the notoriously media-shy Mr Packer appeared to criticise former Labor prime ministers Julia Gillard and the Mandarin-speaking Kevin Rudd by saying the previous government had “lectured’’ Asia, and “I think that’s a very counter-productive strategy’’.