Spending by tourists, both international and domestic, has soared to a record AUD 107.4 billion as Australia continues to welcome record numbers of visitors.
The new spending record is a 6% increase over the previous year and means an additional AUD 5.8 billion has been pumped into the Australian economy, helping create new jobs and drive economic growth.
The International Visitor Survey (IVS), released yesterday, reveals spending by international tourists has also grown by 6% to a record AUD 42.3 billion. Combined with the AUD 65.1 billion spent by domestic tourists, revealed in last month’s National Visitor Survey (NVS), total overnight visitor spending reached a record AUD 107.4 billion for the year ending March 2018.
Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Steven Ciobo, said the Turnbull Government had already started to develop the next national tourism strategy to ensure the tourism industry kept growing and creating jobs.
“With almost one million Australians employed in the tourism industry, attracting more tourists to Australia is part of the Turnbull Government’s plan for a stronger economy.”
The IVS shows Chinese visitors remain the biggest spenders, with their spending increasing 13%, or AUD 1.3 billion, during the past year to a record AUD 10.9 billion. This new record accounted for 52% of the total growth in spending by international tourists.
The largest growth came from Indian visitors, with their spending growing 14% to AUD 1.5 billion. Strong spending growth also came from the United States, up 4%, to AUD 3.8 billion as Tourism Australia’s award winning Dundee campaign targets this lucrative market. The campaign, launched in February, has already delivered more than 300,000 leads to its campaign partners.
Ciobo said the Turnbull Government continued to deliver record funding to Tourism Australia to drive the tourism boom the country is enjoying.
“More tourists mean more spending in Australian businesses which helps support and create jobs. The Coalition Government returned responsibility for domestic tourism marketing to the states and territories in 2013, in order to refocus Tourism Australia on our offshore marketing capacity.”
| International & Domestic Survey Results (March 2015 – March 2018) | Visitors | Spend | Nights |
| New South Wales | 32% | 46% | 28% |
| Victoria | 37% | 47% | 33% |
| Queensland | 22% | 23% | 15% |
| South Australia | 25% | 35% | 19% |
| Western Australia | 53% | 24% | 23% |
| Tasmania | 35% | 38% | 35% |
| Northern Territory | 43% | 28% | 40% |
| ACT | 33% | 35% | 15% |
| Australia | 32% | 37% | 25% |
Edited by Peter Needham
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