International Visitor Growth Up 4.6% In 2012

The December 2012 ABS stats show that overseas visitors were up 7% in December. In 2012 Australia had 6.1 million visitors – 4.6% annual growth – which Tourism Australia’s Andrew McEvoy calls a ‘very creditable performance’ given fierce global tourism competition, our high dollar and economic stagnation in a number of our key traditional markets. He says:

“In many ways, 2012 was a year of transition for our industry, as we continue to adapt to the Asian Century and the enormous opportunities provided by the region’s fast emerging and increasingly mobile middle classes.”

From Which Countries Are International Visitors Coming?

The tourism minister Martin Ferguson reports that these visitors came from India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore, all recording strong growth, up 39%, 14%, 13% and 12% respectively during December 2012.

In 2012, the number of Chinese visitors increased almost 16%, 9% from Malaysia, 8% from Singapore and over 7% from India compared to 2011. He says:

“Importantly, there are signs of improvement from large traditional markets such as the United States, up 5 per cent in 2012, and Japan up 6.4 per cent in 2012, which have been facing serious economic challenges.”

Arrivals from key European markets improved – UK up 2%, Italy up 12% and Germany up 8% during December 2012.

The Overseas Arrivals and Departures data is available at www.abs.gov.au.