A latest Tourism Forecasting Committee report released on Monday expected that Australian tourism will look to Asia in the coming years, as travel booms in the region.

The report showed that international arrivals to Australia are expected to grow by 5.3 percent in 2010 and 5.6 percent in 2011, fueled largely by growth in visitor numbers from Asia.

According to Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson, the forecasts confirmed the strengthening of Australia's integration with Asia, as travelers from the region form a greater percentage of the total number of visitors to Australia.

The Australian economy has become increasingly linked to the economies of Asia, with tourism also reflecting the trends in other major export sectors, Minister Ferguson said in a statement released on Monday.

He also announced that Tourism Australia will be investing 150 million U.S. dollars over the next three years on its global leisure campaign There's Nothing Like Australia.

The campaign includes part of the 30 million U.S. dollars announced by the federal government in June to sustain the record growth in the China market.

Through the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy, the money will be used to build the tourism industry's capacity to capture the opportunities of strong growth predicted in international tourism arrivals.

Minister Assisting on Tourism, Senator Nick Sherry, said Tourism Forecasting Committee predictions were consistent with global trends released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which recorded 14 percent growth in visitors from the Asia Pacific region in the first eight months of 2010.

However, Senator Sherry pointed out one particular forecast that posed a challenge for the tourism industry.He said the number of Australians traveling abroad will be up by 15 percent this year, as a result of the high Australian dollar.

"The Australian Government has both immediate and long-term strategies to help support the tourism industry,"Senator Sherry said in a statement. "We're encouraging Australians to holiday at home with the No Leave No Life Campaign, which aims to get workers to use their leave and take a short break in Australia,"he said. "Any unused leave we can unlock is great for tourism and we will be increasing our marketing efforts to correspond with the coming holiday season," he added.