Tourism Research Australia releases latest International Visitor Survey data

Tourism Research Australia has today released their latest International Visitor Survey data which showed a moderation of international tourism results for the September quarter 2024 following a strong June quarter 2024 results.

Spend in Australia during the quarter was 105% of pre-COVID levels, relatively lower than the 115% of pre-COVID levels seen in the June quarter 2024. Nights spent in Australia were also up on their pre-COVID levels, at 102%, but down from 112% of pre-COVID levels in the June quarter 2024. Trips were at 86% of pre-COVID levels in the September quarter 2024, down slightly from 88% in the June quarter 2024.

The year ending September 2024 results saw international tourism to Australia continue to approach pre-COVID levels. Trips and nights spent in Australia saw improvements and reached 86% and 104% of pre-COVID levels respectively, up from 85% and 102% in the year ending June 2024. Spend in Australia remained unchanged from the year ending June 2024 on a relative basis, at 103% of pre-COVID levels.

Holiday travellers spending more and staying longer
September quarter 2024 saw strong results for holiday travel. Holiday travellers on average spent more per trip and stayed longer in the September quarter 2024 compared with pre-COVID and the same period last year.

For holiday travellers in the September quarter 2024, when compared to pre-COVID (September quarter 2019):

• Average spend per trip was up by 33% to $3,473, from $2,602

• Average nights spent per trip were up by 27% to 28 nights, from 22 nights

When compared with the September quarter 2023:

• Average spend per trip was up by 10%, from $3,170

• Average nights spent per trip were up by 22%, from 23 nights

Top Five Visitor Markets
In the year ending September 2024, the top five visitor markets were New Zealand, China, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and India. The United Kingdom saw the largest improvement as a percentage of pre-COVID levels on a year-ending basis, compared with last quarter’s data, with spend at 116% (up from 112%), trips at 88% (up from 86%) and nights at 101% (up from 98%). Trips from China continued to improve reaching 60% pre-COVID levels (up from 56%), driven by holiday travel. However, spend in Australia by Chinese visitors remained steady at 77% of pre-COVID levels. China remains the largest contributor to spend in Australia in the year ending September 2024, making up 24% of the total.

Australia’s top five international visitor markets in the year ending September 2024 (2019 comparison in brackets):

1. New Zealand with:

• 1.2 million trips (97%)

• $2.1 billion spent (130%)

• 14.3 million nights (110%)

2. China with:

• 796 thousand trips (60%)

• $7.9 billion spent (77%)

• 45.0 million nights (77%)

3. United States of America with:

• 656 thousand trips (85%)

• $2.0 billion spent (99%)

• 11.4 million nights (86%)

4. United Kingdom with:

• 590 thousand trips (88%)

• $2.1 billion spent (116%)

• 21.0 million nights (101%)

5. India with:

• 405 thousand trips (111%)

• $1.5 billion spent (116%)

• 27.1 million nights (122%)

States and Territories
In the year ending September 2024, over half of the states and territories saw relative improvements in trips when compared with the year ending June 2024.

Trips saw increases as a proportion of pre-COVID levels when compared with the year ending June 2024 results in Victoria (83%, up from 80%), Queensland (78%, up from 77%), Western Australia (86%, up from 84%), Tasmania (89%, up from 85%) and the Australian Capital Territory (73%, up from 69%). This was partially offset by relative decreases in trips in New South Wales (84%, down from 85%), South Australia (93%, down from 96%) and the Northern Territory (68%, down from 69%). For the first time, spend exceeded pre-COVID levels in Victoria (100%), Tasmania (102%) and the Australian Capital Territory (104%).

Figures. Credit: Tourism Research Australia