Tourist numbers continue to soar
Australia's tourism industry continues to go from strength-to-strength with a record 8.4 million international travellers flocking to our shores over the last year.
International travellers are also spending record amounts with $42.5 billion injected into the local economy, a 5 per cent spike on the previous year.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham welcomed the results saying more international travellers meant more people in our restaurants, staying in our hotels and visiting our tourist attractions.
"We've always had a good product and it's encouraging to see international travellers are getting on planes in record numbers to see what all the fuss is about," Minister Birmingham said.
"It's clear Australia is one of the most sought after holiday destinations in the world at the moment.
"This is something we should be proud of but we also need strike while the iron is hot. The more tourists we get to our shores the more they contribute to the economy and the more they spend in Australian businesses.
"What is also encouraging is we're seeing strong growth outside of the larger cities with Hobart, Blue Mountains, Canberra, the Hunter and Townsville for example all recording double digit growth in visitor numbers.
"This is good news for some of our smaller capital cities and regional towns and it's great to see travellers are getting out of the larger cities and getting a taste for the rest of Australia.
Minister Birmingham said there continued to be strong demand from China with visitor numbers up 13 per cent, reaching a record 1.3 million and spending up 15 per cent to a record $11.3 billion.
"We're also seeing strong growth out of India, with visitor numbers jumping 21 per cent and spending reaching $1.5 billion," Minister Birmingham said.
"The South and South-East Asia regions were also strong performers with 1.2 million visitors from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India collectively spending $5 billion during their travels."
Tourism Australia's Undiscover Australia campaign, launched in September, seeks to capitalise on the potential of the lucrative South and South-East Asia market by encouraging high value travellers to come and experience the more unusual, unfamiliar and unexpected destinations on offer around our country such as the lavender fields of Northern Tasmania or four-wheel driving on Fraser Island.
Traveller numbers from the US were also up 5 per cent, an early sign that the Dundee campaign targeting travellers from North America, was starting to cut through.
The Liberal-National Government continues to deliver record funding to Tourism Australia to help attract more international travellers to our shores as a booming tourist sector helps contribute to a stronger economy and more Australian jobs.
The latest International Visitor Survey results are available at: www.tra.gov.au.