SYDNEY (Kyodo) Panoramic landscapes, furry native animals and world-famous icons were once enough to draw millions of tourists to Australia's shores each year.
However, within the last seven years, the nation's tourism industry has suffered from stagnation, with Japanese numbers in particular dropping off.
Although 2007 saw a record 5.6 million arrivals, the growth in the number of international visitors since 2005 has skidded to a halt, with an average of 5.5 million tourists arriving annually.