New data reveals a strong outlook for Australia’s tourism industry

Australia’s tourism sector is on a growth pathway, with new data released today showing tourism spend reached $208 billion in 2023, supporting hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses, and jobs across the country.

The ‘State of the Industry’ report shows that the tourism sector has continued its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that international visitor spend is forecast to reach pre-pandemic numbers by 2025.

The Report shows strong growth in international visitation and spend in 2023:

• International visitor spend reached $28 billion, up 120% on the previous year.

• International visitor arrivals reached 7.2 million, up 95% on the previous year, with the largest international markets being New Zealand, the USA, the UK and China.

• After a bumper few years for our domestic tourism industry, locals continued to take the opportunity to holiday at home, with domestic overnight trip spend up 8% to $109 billion, and domestic day trip spend up 13% to $33 billion.

• Things are set to get even better, with the Report forecasting tourism spend in Australia is set to increase by 31% over the next 5 years.

In a statement the Federal Government noted that it “understands the value of the tourism industry, not only for our economy but for the many businesses and jobs it sustains across Australia. Which is why we continue to back in our hard-working industry including through Tourism Australia's $125 million Come and Say G'day campaign, and our additional $48 million package of support for Australian tourism and travel businesses.”

Access The State of the Industry report