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Backpackers, assumed to be budget travelers, have historically contributed generously to Australia’s tourism industry. But its strong dollar and hotels packed with mining and other industrial workers are giving the roughing-it set reason to go elsewhere.
Australia’s backpacker tourism industry is facing the biggest crisis in its history, with many tour operators struggling to survive following big falls in young travellers.
The number of people staying in hostels has fallen by nearly seven per cent over the past two years, down from 593,000 per year in March 2010.
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