On Thursday the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its tourism data for the month of January.
It will come as no surprise to learn that the Australian tourism boom has continued and another solid rise in visitor numbers has been reported.
According to the data, Australia welcomed 753,700 international visitors to its shores in January. This was an increase of 5.7% from the prior corresponding period.
While China and New Zealand once again provided the most visitors, the key drivers of this growth were tourists from the United States and India. Visitor numbers from these two nations grew 11.9% and 23.2% year-on-year, respectively.
With the tourism boom showing no signs of slowing, I think investors ought to consider gaining exposure to the sector through an investment in one of these three shares:
Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN)
With more and more tourists heading to Australia I expect demand for hotel rooms will rise strongly. This should put resort operators like Crown in a strong position to profit from higher occupancy levels and average room rates. Furthermore, it may also make the floors of its casino even busier than normal.
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)
As the main gateway to Australia, I believe Sydney Airport will be a big winner from the tourism boom. I believe this will allow the company to continue growing earnings and its dividend at a solid rate for the foreseeable future. Although the Western Sydney Airport could impact traffic in the future, this is still a long way off and not forecast to open until 2026.
Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)
The days of booking flights and accommodation at your local travel agent are numbered in my opinion. Which is likely to mean that this online travel agent continues to benefit from the shift to online booking for a good number of years to come. For this reason, Webjet is probably my number one pick in the tourism sector and one which I think could provide market-beating returns for many years.
