New data highlights importance of tourism

Australia's tourism sector demonstrated strong growth in the year to September 2019, according to the latest International Visitor Survey and National Visitor Survey data, underscoring the importance of the tourism industry to Australia's economy.

Today's release from Tourism Research Australia for the year ending September 2019 shows that Australians took 115.7 million overnight trips and spent $79.1 billion on overnight travel, up 13 per cent year on year.

International visitation also rose 3 per cent to 8.7 million international visitors during the year, with spending up 5 per cent to $45.2 billion. Growth in spending from Japan, India and the US was particularly strong, up 15 per cent, 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia's tourism sector was incredibly resilient and would continue to be a key driver of our economy.

"These results demonstrate the underlying strength of Australia's tourism industry and the high regard that Australia's tourism operators and businesses are held in for their quality and unique tourism offerings," Minister Birmingham said.

"We are acutely aware of the challenges our tourism industry currently faces as a result of recent bushfires and that tourism businesses from all around Australia are feeling the pressures of cancellations and reduced bookings.

"Our Government stands ready to help our tourism industry to not only rebuild infrastructure where required but to continue to promote the incredible tourism experiences that are still on offer right across Australia.

"Yesterday I held a workshop with industry leaders from many sectors of the tourism industry so that their views and ideas can inform our government response to the issues confronting our tourism industry.

"As we develop those responses our government will continue to invest record amounts in Tourism Australia for campaign activity across our key markets, getting the message out to trade and consumers that Australia is still very much open for business and that most regions remain unaffected and continue to offer tourists incredible tourism experiences.

"The strong domestic visitation results also demonstrate that Australians love to holiday in their backyard. It is more important than ever that Australians continue to visit our key tourism destinations to help back our tourism industry.

"I encourage Australians to make a booking in affected communities when it's safe to do so and to help many small businesses through these tough times."