Tourists spend a record $107 billion

Spending by tourists – both international and domestic – has soared to a record $107.4 billion as Australia continues to welcome record numbers of visitors.

This new spending record is a six per cent increase from the previous year and means an additional $5.8 billion has been pumped into the Australian economy, helping create new jobs and drive economic growth.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS), released today, reveals spending by international tourists has also grown by six per cent to a record $42.3 billion.

Combined with the $65.1 billion spent by domestic tourists, revealed in last month's National Visitor Survey (NVS), total overnight visitor spending reached a record $107.4 billion for the year ending March 2018.

The Turnbull Government has already started to develop the next national tourism strategy to ensure the tourism industry keeps 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 per cent, or $1.3 billion, during the past year to a record $10.9 billion. This new record accounted for 52 per cent of the total growth in spending by international tourists.

The largest growth came from Indian visitors, with their spending growing 14 per cent to $1.5 billion. Strong spending growth also came from the United States, up 4 per cent, to $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. The Turnbull Government continues 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.

The NVS and IVS, produced by Tourism Research Australia, are available at www.tra.gov.au.