Cairns Tourism Statistics

Fact checked · 45 sources

Updated

At a glance

  • Cairns welcomed about 2.4 million overnight visitors in 2025, including 622,000 international visitors.1
  • Visitors spent about A$4.1 billion in Cairns in 2025, including a record A$1.2 billion from international visitors.2
  • The United States was the largest international market in 2025, with 111,000 visitors.1
  • Tourism directly supported 8,141 local jobs in Cairns in 2024/25, 9.2% of local employment.3
  • International visitors to Cairns stayed an average of 9.5 nights in 2025 and spent $206 per night.1

How many tourists visit Cairns each year?

In 2025, the Cairns region (Tropical North Queensland) welcomed around 2.4 million overnight visitors: about 1.8 million domestic overnight visitors and 622,000 international visitors.1

  • International visitor numbers rose 14.5% on 20241, and international visitors spent a record A$1.2 billion in 2025, up 24% on 2024.2
  • The 2025 domestic figures come from the new Domestic Tourism Survey, so they are not directly comparable with earlier years.1

In 2024, the region welcomed around 2.7 million visitors, including approximately 2.16 million domestic overnight visitors and about 543,000 international visitors4. International arrivals jumped by roughly 18% year-on-year that year, though international visitor numbers were still about 33% below pre-pandemic (2019) levels5.

Cairns tourism statistics — annual tourist arrivalsInternational visitorsDomestic overnight visitors500K1M1.5M2M2.5M808,0002,218,000459,0002,285,000543,0002,162,000622,0001,800,0002019202320242025Year
Annual tourist arrivals to Cairns (Tropical North Queensland).

How much did tourists spend in Cairns in 2025?

Tourists spent about A$4.1 billion in Cairns in 2025: a record A$1.2 billion from international visitors, up 24% on 2024, and A$2.9 billion from domestic visitors, including day trips.2

  • The 2025 domestic figure comes from the new Domestic Tourism Survey, so it is not directly comparable with earlier years.1

In 2024, tourists spent A$4.26 billion in Cairns.4

  • Domestic visitors contributed about A$3.28 billion, which was approximately 13% lower than the domestic spend of A$3.75 billion in 20234.
  • International visitors spent around A$980 million in 2024, which was about 5% lower than the pre-pandemic peak of A$1.03 billion in 20194.
Total Visitor Spending in Cairns
YearInternationalDomestic
2025A$1.2 B2A$2.9 B2
2024A$0.98 B4A$3.28 B4
2023A$0.83 B4A$3.75 B4
2019A$1.03 B4–

Source · Year ending December, AUD billion. The 2019 and 2023 international figures are calculated from the changes reported in the 2024 fact file. No calendar-year 2019 domestic figure is published for the region. The 2025 domestic figure (including day trips) comes from the new Domestic Tourism Survey and is not directly comparable with earlier years.

Who visited Cairns in 2025?

The United States was the largest international market for Cairns in 2025, with 111,000 visitors (up 31% on 2024), followed by Japan with 89,000 (down 17%), the United Kingdom with 84,000 (up 20.8%), China with 53,000 (up 86%) and New Zealand with 38,000 (up 42%).1

  • About 1.2 million domestic overnight visitors came from elsewhere in Queensland (66% of domestic trips) and 585,000 from interstate.1
Top international markets for Cairns, 2025International visitors to Tropical North Queensland, year ending December 2025Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Tourism Fact File YE Dec 2025 (TRA International Visitor Survey)United States111,000Japan89,000United Kingdom84,000China53,000New Zealand38,000Visitors
Top international markets for Cairns (Tropical North Queensland), 2025.

How much is tourism worth to the Cairns economy?

Visitors spent about A$4.1 billion in the Cairns region in 2025.2 The latest figures on tourism's wider economic impact are for the year ending June 2025, when tourism in Cairns directly generated about $1.69 billion in output (total sales).3

Key figures for 2024/25:

  • $769 million in direct value added, 7.3% of the value added by all industries in the region.3
  • The tourism industry in Cairns directly supported 8,141 local jobs, 9.2% of total local employment.3
  • Indirect effects added a further $1.401 billion, bringing tourism's total value added to $2.170 billion.3
  • These estimates include ABS methodology changes, so they are not directly comparable with earlier years.3
Tourism value added in Cairns, 2014/15 to 2024/25Direct and indirect, 2018–19 prices, year ending JuneDirect value addedIndirect value addedNIEIR, compiled by economy.id for Cairns Regional Council$500M$1B$1.5B$2B$2.5B2014/152015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/222022/232023/242024/25Year
Tourism value added in Cairns, direct and indirect, 2014/15 to 2024/25.

Impact of Coronavirus Travel Ban

  • Chinese visitors have since returned: 53,000 came to the region in 2025, up 86% on 2024.1
  • From 1 February 2020, Australia denied entry to non-residents who had left or transited through mainland China6, which severely disrupted Chinese visits to Cairns.

Quotes and Media Statements

“There have been more than $10 million in direct bookings in the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region cancelled to date as a result of the coronavirus. (…) Tourism Tropical North Queensland members have seen more than 25,000 direct cancellations of experiences and accommodation.” Mark Olsen, Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO, 3 February 20207

Read more on the impact of the coronavirus travel ban.

Other Resources

How much money does Cairns make from tourism?

  • Tourists spent about A$4.1 billion in the Cairns region in 2025: A$1.2 billion from international visitors and A$2.9 billion from domestic visitors.2
  • In 2025, international visitors spent an average of $206 per night and stayed 9.5 nights.1
  • Domestic overnight visitors spent an average of $404 per night in 2025 and stayed 4.0 nights.1

How many tourists visit Queensland each year?

Queensland welcomed 2.4 million international visitors in 2025, up 9.8%, who spent a record A$7.5 billion.8

In the year ending March 2026, Queensland welcomed 26.1 million domestic overnight visitors and 2.4 million international visitors, and visitors spent A$45.5 billion in total.9

Cairns Camping & Campervan Statistics

  • Australians took a record 17.3 million caravan and camping trips in 2025, up 14%, and spent A$12.6 billion on them.10
  • Camping is popular in Queensland, including campervan travel: Australians took about 3.2 million caravan and camping trips in Queensland in 2024, spending 13.0 million nights there.11
  • Caravan and camping made up almost one in every 7 domestic overnight trips in Australia in 2025, with 57.9 million nights away, 87% of them in regional Australia.10
  • In 2025, 77% of caravan and camping trips were holidays, and commercial caravan parks and camping grounds accounted for 68% of caravan and camping holiday trips.10
  • Queensland had 254,025 registered recreational vehicles in January 2025, the most of any state and 27% of the national fleet.12
  • Australian caravan parks earned A$3.3 billion in 2025, up 7%; cabins averaged 69.7% occupancy and powered sites 58.1%.12

Campervan hire in Australia

References

  1. Tourism Fact File: International Visitor Survey & Domestic Tourism Statistics, Year Ending December 2025 (Tourism Tropical North Queensland) · tourism.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au ↑ b c d e f g h i j k l
  2. March 2026 CEO Update (Tourism Tropical North Queensland) · tourism.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au ↑ b c d e f g
  3. Value of tourism to Cairns — employment, output and value added (NIEIR, economy.id) · economy.id.com.au ↑ b c d e f
  4. Tourism Fact File: International Visitor Survey & National Visitor Survey, Year Ending December 2024 (Tourism Tropical North Queensland) · tourism.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au ↑ b c d e f g h i
  5. Total International visitors to Queensland regions, year ending December 2011–2021 · tourism.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au ↑
  6. Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) novel coronavirus statement on 1 February 2020 (Department of Health) · health.gov.au ↑
  7. CEO Statement on Coronavirus impact · tourism.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au ↑
  8. Queensland cements position as 'Home of the Holiday' as visitor records smashed (Queensland Government ministerial statement) · statements.qld.gov.au ↑
  9. Destination 2045 drives record tourism growth (Queensland Government ministerial statement, year ending March 2026) · statements.qld.gov.au ↑
  10. Other: Car Rental, EV rental, Fuel Cost, Road Trips — Road Trips Australia (2025)#how-many-road-trips-are-taken-dcf4bd · Tourism Research Australia ↑ b c
  11. Caravan and Camping State of Industry 2025 (Caravan Industry Association of Australia) · assets.pc.gov.au ↑
  12. Australian caravan and camping industry statistics (Caravan Industry Association of Australia, updated 8 September 2026) · caravanindustry.com.au ↑ b
  13. Tourism Spending Statistics - The Great Barrier Reef · Tourism Research Australia
  14. Tourism Industry in Cairns · cairns.qld.gov.au
  1. Camper Champ
    2. >
  2. Statistics
    3. >
  3. Australia
    4. >
  4. Cairns Tourism Statistics
Get in touch
Info

Camper Champ © 2026 All rights reserved.