Published on : Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Overseas travelers declined to $43.2 billion in the year to September, a rise of five percent.
Chinese tourists occupied the first spot with 1.3 million visitors representing a rise of eight percent on the previous year, and the biggest portion of 8.4 million travelers who came to Australia.
Of those international visitors, 2.84 million opted to travel beyond the capital cities and invested time in the bush, coast or outback.
Indian travelers increased 20 percent to 324,000, as the number of arrivals from Japan increased six percent to 419,000.
However, with the exception of China, overseas tourists aren’t hanging around as long.
Americans spent 13 percent less nights in the country, as New Zealand and British visitors’ trip lengths dropped by seven percent.
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham stated that it was encouraging to witness more international visitors flock to regional destinations.
“This is great news for regional towns around Australia and it’s also terrific to see travellers moving off the beaten track,” Senator Birmingham said.
“This is exactly why 80 per cent of Tourism Australia’s current campaigns, feature tourism experiences outside of our capital cities.”