Australian Tourism Statistics

Page last updated: 17 June 2020

How many tourists visit Australia each year?

Over 9 million tourists visited Australia between July 2018 and June 2019, the highest number ever recorded.1

  • After years of steady growth, international visitors are expected to drop dramatically in 2020  heavily affecting the Australian tourism industry.
  • It is forecast that only 6.5 million international visitors will have arrived in Australia in the year ending June 2020, an annual decrease of 30%, approximately 2.8 million fewer than in the year before.
Data source: ABS. Image credit: Camper Champ

Australian Tourism Statistics 2020

Tourism Statistics Forecasts for 2020

  • International visits for 2019/2020 are expected to reach 6,500,000 – a 30% drop of 2.8 million visitors from the previous year, having a severe effect on the tourism sector.
  • The Tourism & Transport Forum predicts a total decrease of 40% in international visitation during the months of January–June 2020, leading to a loss of $2 billion in tourism-related expenditure per month.5

January 2020 - Bushfire Impact

  • In January 2020 approximately 739,600 international visitors travelled to Australia.4
  • International visitor numbers were down 5.1% when compared with the 779,500 of January 2019.
  • The drop can be partly attributed to the Australia bushfires crisis of 2019/2020, impacting Australian tourism businesses and hospitality sector even before the COVID-19 crisis.

February 2020 and the Impact of Coronavirus

  • February saw a significant decrease in international tourism due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis.
  • In February 2020 approximately 647,000 international visitors travelled to Australia.
  • International visitors were down 18% when compared with the 796,100 visitors of February 2019.

March 2020 and the Impact of Travel Restrictions

International arrivals in March saw a dramatic decrease, significantly impacting Australia’s tourism industry:

  • In March 2020 approximately 307,900 international visitors travelled to Australia which was a 59.9% drop when compared with the 768,200 visitors of March 2019.
  • On March 20th, Australia restricted entry to only citizens, residents and their immediate family.
  • On March 25th Australian citizens and residents were also banned from travelling overseas.

Impact of the Travel Ban on Chinese Tourists

  • In February 2020 visitors arriving from China decreased by 83% compared to the previous year (19,500 arrivals in February 2020 vs 116,900 visitors in February 2019).
  • The significant drop was the result of the coronavirus-related travel ban implemented by the Australian government on 1 February for non-citizens travelling from or through China.
  • February in the past has historically been the peak period for Chinese visitors to Australia.
 

Read more: Chinese visitors to Australia statistics

Australia Inbound Travel Statistics for 2019 – International & Domestic Tourism

Who visited Australia in 2019?

  • The highest number of visitors came from China, at over 1.4 million.
Data source: ABS. Image credit: Camper Champ
  • Up until 2016, New Zealand was the top source of tourist arrivals for Australia, but that spot has now been held by China for 2 years.
Data source: ABS. Image credit: Camper Champ

What were the most popular tourist destinations in Australia in 2019?

  • The most popular destination for both international tourism and domestic visitors was Sydney, with over 16 million visitors.2
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

How much did international tourists spend in Australia in 2019?

  • International tourists spent a total of $44.6 billion in Australia between July 2018 and June 2019.3
  • Chinese were the top spenders at $11.9 billion, nearly triple the amount of the next-highest spenders (Americans at $4 billion).
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ
  • International visitors spent an average of $5,183 per trip, an average expenditure of $163 per night.
  • Holidaymakers contributed the most overall with $16.9 billion spent.

Which Australian destinations had the highest visitor spend?

  • Sydney had the highest visitor spend receiving a combined $19.5 billion from both international and domestic visitors between July 2018 and June 2019.
  • Melbourne also ranked high at a combined $17.0 billion.
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

How long do international tourists spend in Australia?

  • Tourists spent 273 million visitor nights in Australia between July 2018 and June 2019.
  • The overall average length of stay was 32 nights.

Australia camping & campervan statistics

  • The number of camping trips throughout Australia has grown by 27.5% over the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018.5
  • In 2018 over 6.9 million overnight camping trips were made in Australia.
  • Camping trips – including caravan, campervan, commercial and non-commercial camping – made up 13.7% of visitor nights for domestic travellers in Australia in 2019 (year ending September)

Other Resources

Australian Outbound Tourism Statistics for 2019

Where did Australian tourists visit in 2019?

  • Australian tourists and travellers made over 9.5 million overseas trips in the year ending in June 2019.4
  • The most popular destination was New Zealand, with over 1.2 million trips alone.
  • Indonesia (Bali), the US (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco) and the UK (London, Scotland), were also popular destinations.
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

Travel Statistics Resources

International Tourism - Visitor Statistics

Statistics by Location

Global Statistics

References

  1. ABS: Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, August 2019 ↩
  2. TRA: International Visitor Survey, National VIsitor Survey, 2019 ↩
  3. TRA: International Visitor Survey, Trends 2019, National Visitor Survey, Trends 2019 ↩
  4. ABS: Arrivals and departures: Visitor arrivals, short term trips (seasonally adjusted) March 2020↩
  5. TTF: Estimated impact of Coronavirus on the Australia visitor economy↩