Tourists to Oz break $40bn spending records

By Hannah Edensor

Spending by international tourists visiting Australia has reached a new record – exceeding $40 billion for the first time.

International visitors spent a record $40.6 billion in the year to June 2017, an increase of seven per cent on the previous year. This stellar result was revealed in the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) released today.

The record spending is being driven by record numbers of international tourists who are staying longer and spending more while visiting Australia.

With wallets wide-open, international tourists are driving economic growth and creating jobs, while every Aussie state and territory got a slice of the spending pie.

Chinese tourists continue to have the biggest impact on our economy with 1.2 million visitors spending $9.8 billion. Both are increases of 10 per cent. This growth comes during the China-Australia year of Tourism.

Along with the Chinese, Americans are also visiting Australia in record numbers. Australia welcomed a record 706,000 tourists from the United States, a 14 per cent increase, and they spent $3.8 billion, an increase of four per cent.

Over the last four years visitors from the United States have increased by 54 per cent and their spending by 53 per cent.

During the past three years spending by international visitors has increased by 34 per cent as the Coalition continues to provide record funding to Tourism Australia. In addition to the record funding, the Turnbull Government is working to attract more tourists through visa reform, investment in tourism infrastructure and more open aviation access.

“Our industry goes from strength to strength, reflecting the exceptional product experiences, strong investment, and long term commitment tourism businesses have made to making Australia a top destination for international visitors,” Australian Tourism Export Council Managing Director, Peter Shelley said.

“We have clearly done a good job in extending our appeal across a range of traditional, new and emerging markets and this is reflected in growing visitor numbers.

“The key to long term sustainability of the tourism export sector is ensuring the right balance between the number of visitors and the value of spend, with an aspiration towards achieving a greater spend per visitor over the forward outlook.

“While the international tourism landscape will always be subject to a range of economic, social and political influences, Australia is seen as a destination delivering a range of experiences that appeal to a broad range of international travellers – a good positioning to offset the threats of global political events.”

International Visitor Survey Results

International Visitor Survey Results (June 2016 – June 2017)	Spending ($m)	%
New South Wales	10099	11%
Victoria	7495	11%
Queensland	5232	3%
South Australia	1063	12%
Western Australia	2506	8%
Tasmania	457	24%
Northern Territory	485	16%
ACT	535	27%

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@australia atec internatiobal visitor survey peter shelley