More Australians are holidaying at home and choosing to enjoy natural wonders around the country, according to the Government’s International and National Visitor Survey results.
An increase in overnight trips by Australians has seen spending by domestic tourists increase six percent to a record $64.5 billion in 2017. Combined with the record $41.3 billion spent by international tourists during the same period, total tourism spending has reached a new record of almost $106 billion, up six per cent on the previous year.
The results, which were released this week, also showed that domestic overnight trips reached 97 million, up 7%, and nights hit 351 million, up 5%, during the year. This saw record participation in outdoor activities such as:
- A visit to a national park or state park, up 14 per cent to 11.2 million
- Bushwalking or rainforests walks, up 14 per cent to 11.8 million
- Water activities/sports, up 20 per cent to 3.6 million
- Attendance at an organised sporting event, up 11 per cent to 3.9 million
- Anow skiing, up 37 per cent to 603,000
- A visit to an Indigenous site or community, up 22 per cent to 465,000
New South Wales saw the largest number of visitors across all states and territories, with 35,733,000, up by 20% over the last three years, with Victoria the next highest, seeing 27,349,000 visitors, up by 24% over the last three years.