Double digit growth for international visitors in March

Australia welcomed 754,600 visitor arrivals during March 2016, an increase of 11.6 per cent relative to the same period of the previous year, according to the latest statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The double digit growth in March brings the number of international visitors to a record 7.67 million for the year ending March 2016, an increase of 8.7 per cent relative to the previous year.

“There’s plenty to like about these figures, with the month showing double-digit growth which maintains the strong momentum we’ve been enjoying since the start of the year,” said John O’Sullivan, Managing Director Tourism Australia.

“Feedback and early results from our new aquatic and coastal campaign have been very encouraging, so hopefully there is plenty more upside in the numbers for the rest of the year.

“With the Australian Tourism Exchange, our flagship trade event, due to kick off on the Gold Coast in less than a week’s time, these figures provide further ammunition for our industry to persuade those 700 or so key travel buyers from 30 countries around the world to make Australia the No.1 must visit destination they recommend to their customers,” he said.

Leisure arrivals continued to drive international arrivals growth with an increase of 10.7 per cent over the 12 month period.

Business travel is showing signs of softening, with declines of 5.2 per cent for the same period.

Find out more at www.tourism.australia.com/arrivals.