Tourism Australia says international visitation is now sitting at 99 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with aviation capacity, luxury travel and AI-led marketing set to shape the next decade of growth.
Speaking at the 46th edition of Australia’s biggest international tourism marketplace event, Tourism Australia’s new managing director Robin Mack outlined a bullish outlook for the nation’s visitor economy, revealing inbound arrivals have surged to 9.1 million visitors in the year to March 2026 – up 10 per cent year-on-year and effectively back to pre-pandemic territory.
“This is the biggest we have had today,” he said of the event. “And it’s biggest in terms of organisation, numbers for buyers and sellers.”
More than 55,000 appointments are expected to take place across the four-day trade event, which attracts delegates from 32 international markets.
Tourism Australia says the global appetite for Australia continues to strengthen despite ongoing geopolitical and aviation challenges.
The headline figure is the $56 billion in overnight visitor expenditure generated over the past 12 months – a 14 per cent increase – alongside 736,000 tourism jobs nationally, up five per cent.
“We stay close to the jobs that it generates within our visitor economy,” said the Mack, who took on the role in January. “That’s an important metric for us.”
Holiday and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel remain the dominant drivers, accounting for 7.1 million visitors, while pure holidaymakers reached 4.1 million – up almost 13 per cent.
China rebounds, Korea breaks records
The latest arrival data paints a strong picture across most of Australia’s key international markets.
China posted a massive 21 per cent increase in visitation over the previous 12 months, while Hong Kong climbed 24 per cent. The UK, coming off a blockbuster 2025 driven by the British & Irish Lions tour and Ashes cricket, was still up 19 per cent.
South Korea continues to emerge as one of Australia’s breakout growth markets, with visitation surpassing 400,000 for the first time ever.
Japan rose nine per cent, Singapore seven per cent, while European markets including France, Italy and Germany also posted double-digit growth.
“Some good growth across our markets,” the MD said.
India remained flat year-on-year, though Tourism Australia still sees substantial long-term potential from the broader ASEAN region.
Aviation remains the make-or-break factor
Aviation remains the make-or-break factorAviation capacity remains central to Australia’s tourism ambitions and despite disruption linked to continuing instability in the Middle East, Tourism Australia says international seat capacity into Australia is still tracking ahead of 2025 levels.
Using Cirium data, the organisation acknowledged growth slowed during April following airline disruptions and cancellations, but stressed the overall trajectory remains positive.
“The sound bite I want you to take from this is currently we will still have more seats into Australia for the rest of this calendar year than we had last year,” Mack said.
Tourism Australia says it continuously monitors aviation schedules, consumer confidence and booking demand to adapt its international marketing activity in real time.
That adaptability is becoming increasingly important in what the organisation describes as an “era of volatility”, encompassing geopolitical tensions, climate-related disruption and changing consumer behaviour.
‘Come and Say G’day’ still doing the heavy lifting
Tourism Australia’s global “Come and Say G’day” campaign continues to be the centrepiece of its international marketing push.
The organisation revealed its flagship campaign assets have now amassed 743 million video views globally – up 42 per cent since January.
“We believe this campaign… is the welcome and the invitation that the world needs now more than ever,” Mack said.
Trade distribution remains equally critical, with Tourism Australia continuing to invest heavily in travel advisors, wholesalers, OTAs and airline partnerships.
The long-running Aussie Specialist Program has now reached record scale, with 40,000 qualified travel agents across 100 countries – up by 7,000 agents in the past year alone. More than 100,000 online training courses have also now been completed through the platform.
“I started my career many, many years ago as a retail travel agent,” Mack recalled. “I know that when you experience a destination, you could sell it with confidence.”
Tourism Australia’s biennial G’Day Australia program, which brings top-performing agents to Australia, will return in Darwin this October. The program received 900 applications for just 300 places.
The 2035 play: AI, luxury and mega-events
Looking further ahead, Tourism Australia has set an ambitious target of growing inbound visitor expenditure from $33 billion today to between $61 billion and $69 billion by 2035.
TA expects China, the US, UK and New Zealand to remain Australia’s biggest visitor markets, while Southeast Asia and India are tipped to deliver some of the strongest incremental growth.
To achieve that, Tourism Australia estimates Australia will need an additional 4.4 million international airline seats over the next decade.
![Source: L.E.K. Consulting Australia Pty Ltd, ‘Modelling for Tourism Australia 2035 Strategy Project’ Report], December 2025.](https://travelweekly.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-12-161743-1024x563.png)
The agency has also identified four strategic priorities for the years ahead: winning “marketing to humans and machines” in the AI era, showcasing more of Australia’s breadth of experiences, maximising major global sporting events and elevating Australia’s luxury offering.
“We need to stay top of mind and top of search,” Mack said of AI-driven travel discovery.
Luxury tourism, in particular, is expected to become a much larger focus.
“We believe we do luxury so well in Australia, but it’s unique how we do it,” he said. “We believe we can get more articulate, more clear in what we promise for the luxury traveller coming to Australia.”
Tourism Australia is also positioning the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, alongside upcoming Rugby World Cups and cricket tournaments, as major catalysts for long-term tourism growth.
“When the eyes of the world are watching those matches, we want them to be planning and thinking about coming for the holiday,” he said.
And underpinning it all is Tourism Australia’s latest industry rallying cry: “Green is our Gold”, the sustainability-focused push encouraging operators to embrace responsible tourism as consumer demand for environmentally conscious travel continues to rise.
