Yesterday’s overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures for April were a kick in the guts for Australia’s tourism industry, with the number of outbound tourists jumping to a new record monthly and annual high.
The number of short-term visitor arrivals fell by a seasonally-adjusted -1.6% in April, whereas short-term resident departures rose by 0.7% to a new record, suggesting Australians are continuing to shun domestic travel in favour of holidaying overseas. The ratio of annual arrivals to departures also fell to 75.0% from 75.2% in March and is hovering just above the 27-year low set in July 2012 (see below chart).
In the year to April 2013, the number of short-term visitor arrivals and resident departures set new records – up 4.7% and 5.1% respectively (see next chart).
A record 6.23 million inbound tourists arrived in Australia over the year – a 30% increase on a decade ago. However, the number of Australians holidaying overseas also hit a record 8.31 million departures – a 145% increase on 10 years ago.
The key bogan hotspot of South East Asia (particularly Indonesia and Thailand) remains Australia’s favourite holiday destination, receiving a near record 222,700 visitors in April 2013, or 31.1% of Australia’s total departures. This was followed by Oceania (21%), the Americas (13%), North East Asia (11%), and North West Europe (11%):
By contrast, the most foreign visitors to Australia came from NE Asia (mostly China) and Oceania (mostly New Zealand), which accounted for 24% and 22% of arrivals respectively in April 2013:
