Chinese tourists offset bogan exodus

By Leith van Onselen

News improved a little for Australia’s tourism industry, with the release yesterday of the overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures for May showing a solid jump in the number of inbound tourists and a fall in out-bound tourists.

The number of short-term visitor arrivals increased by a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in May, whereas short-term resident departures fell by 4.5% over the month, and the ratio of annual arrivals to departures hit its highest level for 2.5 years (see next chart).