More Australians Visiting their Capital

A mix of sporting and cultural events in the first half of the Centenary year has bolstered domestic overnight visitor numbers to Canberra with a 9.0 per cent annual increase recorded.

The result for the year ending June 2013 exceeds the 2.6 per cent increase recorded nationally over the same period.

Tourism Research Australia's National Visitor Survey (NVS) released today revealed there were 2,049,000 domestic overnight visitors in the ACT for the year ending June 2013, up from 1,879,000 the previous year. This represents the ACT's best visitation in more than a decade.

Visitors injected an estimated $1.2 billion into the ACT's economy, an increase of around $159 million compared to the same period last year.

Australian Capital Tourism's Director Ian Hill said it was a great result and follows news of an increase also in international visitor numbers.

"In the first half of our Centenary year there have been many major events providing compelling reasons to visit."

Events have included the National Gallery of Australia's Toulouse-Lautrec blockbuster exhibition, ENLIGHTEN, Canberra's Big Birthday Weekend and a raft of sporting events including One Day International Cricket, the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, the British and Irish Lions tour match and the Australian Running Festival among them.

In this period Australian Capital Tourism also executed the highly successful Human Brochure campaign - an innovative, world-first initiative advocacy campaign using social media platforms. The Human Brochure was run in combination with a dedicated interstate promotional campaign which continues to highlight Centenary activities.

The month long Floriade spring festival - which opens this Saturday 14 September - and the recently announced Gold and the Incas summer blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia are highlights for the second half of the Centenary year.

To see what else is coming up go to visitcanberra.com.au