In the year ending June 2008, spending by international visitors in Australia increased nine per cent to $16 billion, primarily driven by the growth in Chinese, Malaysian and Indian markets.

Commenting on the International Visitor Survey, which provides extensive information on international visitors for the year ending June 2008, Tourism Australia Managing Director Geoff Buckley said, "A highlight of this report is the increased yield we are getting out of international travellers. The international traveller market showed strong growth in spending in
Australia for the year ending June 2008.

"Chinese, German and Italian visitors showed the strongest growth in spend by holiday visitors for the year, while visitors who travelled for education or employment and those visiting friends or relatives also increased their spending. Importantly, the international market contributed $24.1 billion in Total Inbound Economic Value over the year to the Australian economy, demonstrating the importance of international tourism to our economy.

"While visitor numbers remained steady year on year, we experienced modest growth in visitor nights, which were up one per cent," Mr Buckley said.

The largest growth in visitors was from China with a 10 per cent increase in numbers, or an additional 34,000 travellers. Visitors from India also rose by 22 per cent, or 18,000 travellers. These numbers however, were offset by falls from Japan, down 14 per cent or 81,000 travellers, the United Kingdom, down six per cent or 42,000 travellers and Korea down 12 per cent or 30,000 travellers.

"The decline in numbers from Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea is reflective of the challenges of the current international environment. While we have seen strong growth in some markets, others are not performing as well. This is indicative of the latest forecasts from the Tourism Forecasting Committee, which predicted international visitor arrivals would remain unchanged in 2008 from 2007 levels of 5.6 million, before increasing in 2009 by an estimated 3.2 per cent.

"It is our belief that the worldwide marketing effort around Baz Luhrmann's Australia will help boost these numbers. Next month, in addition to Twentieth Century Fox's mass marketing of the movie, Tourism Australia will commence a stand-alone brand campaign to motivate international travellers to choose and book Australia as their next destination, rather than have it linger in their minds as a dream destination," Mr Buckley said.

The International Visitor Survey is one of four reports released every year to provide the most up to date information on international visitors to Australia, offering detailed insights into the behaviour and demographics of international visitors.
To download a copy of the International Visitor Survey, please visit www.tra.australia.com