Last year saw a big rebound in visitor numbers to Canberra, with visitor expenditure for year ending December 2022 up 144 per cent to $3.03 billion.
This is the highest ever visitor expenditure in a twelve-month period in the ACT.
In 2022, the ACT welcomed 5.33 million domestic and international visitors, up 71 per cent on the previous year.
Total visitor numbers have recovered to 87 per cent of pre-COVID levels, and expenditure has surpassed pre-COVID levels, at 107 percent (comparing to year ending December 2019).
The ACT recorded 3.03 million domestic overnight visitors in 2022. While all states and territories recorded domestic overnight visitor growth last year, the ACT experienced the strongest growth at 75 per cent.
New South Wales remains the main source of domestic visitors to the ACT, accounting for two-thirds of overnight visitors, and three quarters of day trip visitors to the ACT.
We saw an increase in overnight visits from all states and territories in year ending December 2022, with the biggest increase coming from south east Queensland (Gold Coast and Brisbane), which can be attributed to Jetstar launching routes between Canberra and Brisbane in December 2021 and the Gold Coast in September 2022.
These results are a testament to the success of our cooperative marketing, aviation development program and tourism strategies post-COVID, and highlights the strength and growing appreciation for Canberra's quality tourism offering.
With amazing attractions and experiences, including the National Zoo and Aquarium and Jamala Wildlife Lodge which recently picked up major awards at the Australian Tourism Awards, more people than ever before are putting Canberra on their short break list.
The ACT is now on track to exceed its target of $3.1 billion in visitor expenditure by year ending 2025, an interim goal in the T2030: ACT Tourism Strategy 2023-2030 released late last year.
*Visitation results from the National Visitor Survey and International Visitor Survey released by Tourism Research Australia (TRA) on 5 April 2023.
