Tourism in Australia is an important part of the Australian economy, and comprises domestic and international visitors. Australia is the fortieth most visited country in the world according to the World Tourism Organization. In the financial year 2018/19, tourism was Australia's fourth-largest export and over the previous decade was growing faster than national GDP growth. At the time it represented 3.1% of Australia's GDP contributing A$60.8 billion to the national economy.
In the calendar year up to December 2019, there were 8.7 million international visitors in Australia. Tourism employed 666,000 people in Australia in 2018–19, 1 in 21 jobs across the workforce. About 48% of people employed in tourism were full-time and 54% female. Tourism also contributed 8.2% of Australia's total export earnings in 2018–19.
Popular Australian destinations mainly include the coastal capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as other high-profile destinations including the other coastal cities of Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, and the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest reef. Other popular locations include Uluru, the Australian outback, and the Tasmanian wilderness. The unique Australian wildlife is also another significant point of interest in the country's tourism.
History
From the colonial days, the idea of travel has been more natural to Australians than to people long-established at one from their homes, was prone to continue their search for wealth or security for a while, or, having settled down, to return to the old countries to visit their kin and refresh old memories. The opening of new lands, the establishment of industries and towns, and the consequent dispersal of people over Australia created a habit of mobility and enterprise which encouraged Australians to face the hardships of early travel by coach, on horseback or by ship. Even so, the slow and uncomfortable modes of travel and the vast distances separating Australian towns tended to restrict travel to essential journeys for purposes of trade, to pursue an occupation or to settle. This changed somewhat with the advent of rail travel.
The initial emphasis in tourism for purposes of pleasure was strongest on travel to resorts near the main population centres. These included the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and the hill and coast resorts close to Melbourne and other major Victorian cities. The existing railway services radiating from those cities, together with the 'feeder' horse-drawn, and later motor, coach transport connecting with the railways, rendered the State Government railway tourist bureaux the main means for selling intrastate, and even some interstate, travel.
Travel for all purposes increased steadily after the Second World War. This period saw the establishment of the Australian National Travel Association with bureaux in the UK and USA. The organisation received government funding on top of industry contributions and promoted the country 'vigorously' via a poster campaign, and from 1934 to 1974 via Walkabout magazine. From August 1946, Walkabout also doubled as the official journal of the newly formed Australian Geographical Society (AGS), founded with a £5,000 grant from ANTA, its banner subscript reading 'Journal of the Australian Geographical Society. This role is now filled by Australian Geographic magazine. Later it became ‘Australia's Way of Life Magazine’ when supported by the Australian National Publicity Association and later the Australian Tourist Commission.
Tourism traffic continued to be mainly by rail, but also by sea, although the family motor era began in the 1930s to participate in the shorter intrastate traffic. A considerable fleet of passenger ships like those of State Shipping Service of Western Australia and the Adelaide Steamship Company provided frequent and popular services linking all ports around the country. Other services linked Sydney and Melbourne with Tasmanian ports with some still operating ferry services to this day. The winter cruise of those days to Queensland ports could be regarded as the equivalent of today's drive or flight north for a winter holiday at the Gold Coast or a Barrier Reef Island, or today's shorter South Pacific cruises. The first cruises from Australia to New Zealand were organised in the summer of 1934–35, and Australians were travelling to Britain for as low as $78 in tourist class in the years immediately preceding the Second World War.
In the period following the Second World War the advent of new and improved methods of transportation, combined with rising standards of living and the energetic publicising of foreign destinations, developed international travel into a mass movement. New ocean liners shortened travelling time considerably, and travel by car and bus increased in many countries. Most of all, air travel became widely available, faster, safer, and cheaper. The beginning of the Jet Age in 1960, with larger aeroplanes carrying more than 100 passengers at speeds approximating 600 miles per hour, diminished the world by half in terms of time. Rising standards of living in the post-war period led to greater expenditure on tourism, thus making it more important to the national economy.
Australia has shared in this worldwide expansion of travel, particularly in respect of its domestic tourism. Because of the marked increase in incomes and private car ownership among large sections of the population, greater leisure time, three weeks of paid annual holidays (introduced first in New South Wales in 1958) and the introduction of long-service leave, thousands of Australians now travel by road into almost every part of the country. This has led to investment in the development of new and improved facilities, especially accommodation, of new resorts at dispersed points around Australia, and modifications in organisation and methods of tourist administration, development and promotion. These activities, in turn, have had an important influence on matters such as the improvement of highways and the opening up of national parks and foreshores.
A White Paper was produced analysing the tourist industry in Australia in 2003. A Tourism 2020 strategy was produced and implemented.
Prior to COVID-19 pandemic and Deltacron hybrid variant, domestic tourism in Australia continues to be a significant part of the tourism industry, representing 73% of the total direct tourism GDP and has taken on an even greater role. However, in 2021 during the pandemic, Australians travelled intrastate and also interstate when borders were open. From November 2021, borders for Australia were opened and fully vaccinated Australians were permitted to fly overseas without exemption, although the range of countries was added to Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, and other countries including Japan in December allowed to enter the country, from 1 December 2021. Following the significant consultation on the replacement Tourism 2030 strategy, its launch was interrupted by COVID-19 leading to the Government Commissioning an Expert Panel led by the former Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson to provide recommendations.
Eventually, an updated Tourism 2030 document titled THRIVE (The Re-Imagined Visitor Economy) 2030 strategy was finalised and published in March 2022. The document was updated to reflect the new Government's initiatives and policy priorities as well as industry actions and State and Territory support statements and launched on 17 March 2023.
Statistics
+Yearly tourist arrivals in millions
Despite the global economic challenges and natural disasters in 2010–2011, Australia's tourism growth was supported by increased consumption (up 4.4% over the last few years, largely due to an increase in the number of international visitors). On the back of a strong Australian dollar, 2010–11 also saw a record 7.4 million short-term resident departures from Australia, an increase of 9.9% from 2009 to 2010. Consumption by domestic tourists grew at less than half the pace of international tourists in 2010–11 (up 2.1% compared to 4.4%).
International tourists
The Australian Government released the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential on 15 November 2010, which estimated the Australian tourism industry to be worth up to $140 billion in overnight expenditure. This growth will largely be due to key emerging markets, including China, which is estimated to be the largest economic contributor to Australian tourism by 2020. The number of Chinese visitors has more than doubled from 2006 to 2012 reaching a peak of 626,400 in 2012 and surpassing for the first time the number of arrivals from the United Kingdom. In 2013, China was Australia's fastest growing tourist market. By 2017 China surpassed New Zealand as the top source of visitors to Australia, and in 2019 Chinese visitors reached a peak of over 1.4 million and had contributed about A$12 billion to the Australian economy. According to Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy, the Chinese are the highest spending visitors to the country.
Country 8/2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 886,460 1,272,140 697,190 96,840 242,400 1,433,800 630,390 535,790 84,570 6,490 207,700 1,438,700 458,690 659,740 325,630 16,670 188,700 818,000 376,910 596,880 397,920 21,810 200,800 715,800 285,410 395,560 297,970 12,900 84,000 399,300 266,130 364,010 295,270 15,830 58,300 478,500 258,570 297,720 79,090 1,860 91,700 498,600 247,280 288,010 72,090 2,060 53,500 280,500 150,090201,50090,1702,77034,400221,700 146,100 183,700 53,110 3,100 60,900 315,200 132,180 175,550 84,690 2,370 44,800 384,900 120,890122,79025,75049036,000194,600120,640166,63068,9001,28028,500123,500115,270157,57079,8604,46026,500158,600103,520157,19087,6803,30052,300189,60098,860151,87085,1003,10053,000207,10078,130114,16060,0302,96034,700143,70065,96096,71052,1701,39015,100102,70052,15079,19045,6601,88017,10067,30039,52062,30035,9301,76015,00075,20032,46055,04028,0101,1308,60045,70030,61051,92031,3501,65015,30064,80030,04041,30027,3101,6608,60044,00028,99048,35029,24065013,10058,00028,12042,16023,6401,03011,20047,50028,01039,94020,7501,1609,30049,40026,36046,11036,17082011,20061,30026,29037,09023,3302,7907,20040,40025,04042,60022,5701,19013,30054,70017,09023,84010,9201607,70029,60016,82039,57021,6701705,90021,80016,29026,00014,8005908,80029,70015,89022,92011,8103306,90023,80015,67025,66017,7201,1305,90020,90015,30028,11017,30082011,50042,60014,70020,63013,8806504,50020,30012,16017,99010,9404805,80023,40010,79017,19010,6104705,80023,60010,44016,1508,5604104,80019,50010,23014,8907,7905206,40021,1008,98012,2505,7001303,00013,3008,03013,9309,7008103,80016,3007,2309,4305,8506104,40014,5006,48011,1406,1002604,00016,4005,96010,6305,0104705,10017,9005,56011,4808,8303901,90010,600Total 5,322,180 7,187,440 3,669,250 245,760 1,827,700 9,465,900 Source: Australian Bureau of StatisticsVisitors by country of residence
In 2019, the majority of international visitors to Australia were from China, New Zealand, the United States and the UK, with visitors from China growing substantially from the early 2000s.
Growth in tourism in 2019 was led by education and holiday travel. Education visitors were up 5% to 586,000, with spending increasing by 8% to a record $12.7 billion. Holiday visitors were up 4% to almost 4 million, with spending growing by 6% to $16.9 billion.
Markets