Tourism body not worried about Qantas woes

(AAP) The Australian tourism industry's peak body says it does not believe two recent Qantas engine failures will have an adverse impact on visitor numbers.

In the second mishap in two days, a Boeing 747-400 jet carrying about 400 passengers
was six minutes out of Singapore on its way to Sydney on Friday when it was forced
to turn back because of a "contained engine failure". It landed safely at Changi
Airport.
Passengers on board say they heard a loud bang, telling ABC Radio some of their
fellow travellers were screaming and panicked as crew told them to adopt the brace
position before landing.
The emergency came after QF32, also on its way to Sydney from Singapore, suffered an
"uncontained engine failure" in one of its four Rolls Royce engines, causing debris
to fly up into the left wing and onto the Indonesian island of Batam.
But, Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said he didn't think the
airline's woes would have an adverse effect on tourism.
"I definitely don't think it will impact on tourism numbers in Australia," he said.
"They've had some trouble of late, but they're a great airline.
"People will have confidence in Qantas because they have such a long and strong
history with safety.
"But they're also so many different ways to get into the country."
Mr McEvoy said despite the surging Australian dollar passing the Greenback, inbound
tourist numbers were up six per cent overall this year.
"Key markets like China are 20 per cent, Japan is 19 per cent and Korea is 17 per
cent up," he said.
"Our inbound numbers are up so you can't say the dollar is preventing people from
coming into the country."