For year ending February 2018, China has overtaken New Zealand as the largest source market for travellers to Australia for the first time ever.

Over the course of twelve months, overall visitor numbers hit an all-time high at 8.9 million visitor arrivals, recording an increase of 6.6% relative to the previous year.

Aided by the stream of airlines servicing tourism hubs such as Cairns and other east coast cities, some 1.39 million Chinese visited Australia during the same period, up 13.2% on the year prior and surpassing the 1.36 million visitors from neighbouring New Zealand.

Record number of tourists also visited Australia from the United States (798,400) and India (309,400), each up 9.5% and 14.9%, respectively from the previous year.

In the month of February, total visitor arrivals increased by 16.1% compared to 2017, giving a sneak peek into Australia’s anticipated robust tourism growth in 2018.

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