News has worsened slightly for Australia’s tourism industry in January, with yesterday’s release of the overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures showing a solid fall in the number of inbound tourists.
The number of short-term visitor arrivals decreased by a seasonally-adjusted -2.3% in January, which more than offset the -0.8% reduction in short-term resident departures. The ratio of annual arrivals to departures also continuing to improve ever so slightly after hitting 27-year lows in July 2012 (see below chart).
In the year to January 2013, the number of short-term visitor arrivals and resident departures set a new record – up 4.9% and 5.3% respectively (see next chart).
A record 6.18 million inbound tourists arrived in Australia over the year – a 29% increase on a decade ago (1.42 million). However, the number of Australians holidaying overseas also hit a record 8.20 million departures – a 140% increase on 10 years ago (4.80 million).
South East Asia (particularly Indonesia and Thailand) remains Australia’s favourite holiday destination, receiving a near record 2,781,000 visitors in the year to January 2013, or 31% of Australia’s total departures. This was followed by Oceania (21%), the Americas (13%), North East Asia (11%) and North West Europe (10%):
The bogan hot spots in South East Asia [particularly Bali (Indonesia) and Thailand] remain Australia’s favourite holiday destinations, with South East Asia also experiencing record annual growth in the year to January:
By contrast, the most foreign visitors to Australia came from NE Asia (mostly China) and Oceania (mostly New Zealand), which each accounted for 23% of arrivals in January 2013:
