Victoria has recorded its strongest tourism result on record - with visitor spending hitting an all-time high of $46 billion in the 12 months to September 2025 - supported by the Allan Labor Government's new partnerships and world class line up of major events.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said the latest data from Tourism Research Australia's Domestic Tourism Statistics and International Visitor Survey shows growth was driven by a surge in international spending from key markets including India and China.
China remained Victoria's top market for international expenditure with visitors spending $3.1 billion - up 22.4 per cent year-on-year. The growth aligns with the state's new China Strategy and Visit Victoria's 'Every bit different' marketing push in China.
Victoria attracted the most Indian visitors of any state, leading in total nights stayed and visitor spending ($808 million). This was a 38.1 per cent increase compared to same period last year, well ahead of the Australian growth rate of 28.6 per cent.
Victoria led all other states in the Malaysian and Taiwan markets for number of visitors, nights stayed and expenditure. Japan became a top five market for total expenditure and nights stayed.
International spend in regional Victoria also reached an all-time high of $801 million.
Overall, Victoria remained the nation's second largest visitor economy, accounting for a quarter (24.3 per cent) of market share.
For interstate visitors, Melbourne remained the top overnight leisure destination in Australia - outperforming all other capital cities for the number of trips, nights stayed and expenditure ($1.4 billion) for the September 2025 quarter.
The Mornington Peninsula was the most popular destination for intrastate travellers with the most overnight trips (525,000) - while the Murray region topped the number of nights stayed (1.2 million) and expenditure ($273 million). Overall Victorians spent $1.8 billion across 8.9 million nights on local trips within the state.
The Labor Government's $7 million Industry Partnerships Program - which sees industry partners match government investment dollar-for-dollar - is supporting the record result, along with Victoria's major events calendar.
We're the only city on the planet with a Grand Prix and Grand Slam, NBA games, the Boxing Day Test and the AFL Grand Final, the race that stops the nation, gigs across the state and world-class major events all year round.
A packed summer line up - including the Boxing Day Test, Australian Open, Festival of Sails, the NGV's Westwood | Kawakubo exhibition and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - is expected to attract even more visitors.
More visitors mean more jobs, with our record-breaking visitor economy supporting 288,000 jobs across the state.
As stated by Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos
"Victoria's visitor economy is an economic powerhouse. We're proud to be supporting this industry because more visitors mean even more spending at our cafes, restaurants, attractions and accommodation providers."
"Our Industry Partnerships Program and major events are helping to attract even more visitors to Victoria - driving our record visitor economy and thousands of jobs."
As stated by Visit Victoria CEO Brendan McClements
"We're working hard to showcase what makes our state 'Every bit different' in key markets across the world and we're thrilled to see international visitors are travelling - and spending - here in droves."
"It's no surprise that visitors love our culture, food, wine, wildlife and events - and we're focussed on creating even more demand for these experiences in the future and converting this demand into tourism spending."
