Have we turned a corner?
South Australia’s tourism sector finished 2025 on a more positive note, with the December Quarter 2025 Tourism Barometer showing sharp rebounds in the Business Activity and the Business Outlook indices after natural disasters led to large declines in both indices in the June and September quarters.
Despite the rebound in the Business Activity index in the December quarter, the index remained below the neutral level, as it has in six of the past seven quarters. This highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the South Australian tourism industry in the post-COVID environment, including escalating operating and staffing costs, insurance as well as continued economic uncertainty.
Looking ahead, uncertainty and rising costs are likely to hamper the South Australian tourism industry but hopefully relief is on the horizon. It has been a long, hard slog.