International visitors are a significant export item for Australia. During the year ending 30 June 2007 around 5.2 million international visitors (aged 15 years and over) arrived in Australia.  This was an increase of 3% on the previous year.

For most people, the main purpose for visiting Australia was for a holiday.   A further 20% came to visit their friends and relatives and the remainder were here for business, education and employment. The country of residence for about 20% of the international visitors was New Zealand, followed by the UK (about 12%), Japan (about 11%) and the USA (about 9%).

For the year ending June 2007, international visitors spent in total about $14.7 billion dollars while they were in Australia. For their total trip to Australia, they spent around $24 billion dollars. While a portion of this amount was spent in their home country or in other countries to and from Australia, some may eventually flow on to our economy, for example through tour package costs.  

The total impact of the tourism industry is estimated to be around $22.6 billion dollars in export value for Australia.

Where else can I find information?

Tourism Research Australia has a wide range of services in addition to our core publications. These services include Consultancy Services, Statistical Enquiry Service, Online Data Package and links to Useful Websites.