INTERNATIONAL visitor spend in Australia has recovered to 99% of pre-COVID levels to hit $1.9 billion in June, according to the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia (TRA).
The strong spend comes despite the number of trips and nights spent in Australia still being down on the pre-COVID figures, at 83% and 94% respectively.
New Zealand retained its position as Australia’s number one source market, splashing out $178 million across 98,000 trips in June – a whopping 41% uptick in spend compared to June 2019, while trip numbers have recovered to 97% of the pre-COVID level.
American tourists also spent more during their visits Down Under for the month, doling out $159 million during their travels, which equates to a 15% rise on pre-COVID levels.
China, India, and Singapore rounded out the top five source markets for Australia, with the latter still well below pre-COVID levels in terms of both spend and number of trips.
Visitor levels from India were up in June however, with the number of trips taken 8% greater than before the pandemic, while spend was up an impressive 66% on June 2019.
When it comes to domestic tourism results, the TRA stats reflect a 23% spend increase in June versus the pre-pandemic level, however trips and nights were down 12% and 9% respectively.
Aussie travellers spent less on recreational travel than they did in the same period last year, however they did spend more for business travel purposes, which was up 41% on June 2022.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels, however, spend increased across the board, with holiday travel up 40%, travel to visit friends and family up 10%, and business travel up 16%.
Interstate overnight trips and spend was weaker in June 2023 compared to the month of June 2022, while intrastate results were stronger by 6% and 8% respectively, with more Aussies choosing to explore their home state.
Domestic day trips proved popular in June, with trip numbers and spend levels gaining on both the same period last year and pre-COVID 2019.
