Strong growth in Queensland’s burgeoning international tourism sector has seen the Sunshine State out-perform both NSW and Victoria according to new data released today.
International and National Visitor Survey data released today shows Queensland experienced strong growth in domestic and international visitors, with record highs in visitor expenditure and total visitor numbers over the past year.
"Tourists are spending more than ever before in Queensland. The figures released today show our strategy to grow Queensland’s tourism industry is working," said Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones.
"The data also proves we’re out-performing NSW and Victoria.
"In the year ending September 2018, our share of the cash international tourists spend in Australia grew more than all other states.
"International visitor expenditure grew 11.5 per cent - more than double the Australian rate. We also saw record highs in international visitor numbers, with 2,762,000 visitors spending $5.9 billion in Queensland."
Ms Jones said China remained Queensland’s largest market for international visitors.
"Around 502,000 Chinese tourists spent a record $1.4 billion in Queensland in the year ending September 2018 – that’s more than 33 per cent growth in expenditure year-on-year," she said.
"We’re working hard to harness the huge growth in the Chinese visitor market.
"That’s why Tourism and Events Queensland recently signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s largest online travel company, Ctrip, ensuring we can continue to drive results.
"In the last year, we’ve also grown Queensland’s brand in some of the world’s up-and-coming tourism markets like Singapore and Canada."
Ms Jones said a record 22,794,000 domestic visitors spent $17.6 billion in Queensland in the year ending September 2018 – more than 12.5 per cent growth in expenditure year-on-year.
"Domestic visitors flocked to Queensland in record numbers last year and for the third quarter in a row, we grew our market share of visitor expenditure," she said.
"We’re working with tourism operators to develop new tourism experiences and market Queensland to a new generation of visitors.
"We’re investing more in tourism than any other government in Queensland’s history because we know how important this sector is when it comes to growing our economy."
Queensland experienced record expenditure from several international markets including Singapore ($167.6 million), Canada ($161.9 million) and France ($101.4 million). Record visitation was seen from New Zealand (485,000), Taiwan (82,000) and Canada (63,000).
