Australia’s tourism industry is in rude health and looking forward to a golden age of visitors, delegates attending the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in Brisbane this week were told.
The country welcomed 8.3 million tourists in the year up to February 2025, which was 9% up on the previous year and 82% up on 2023, with much of the growth driven by holiday visitors.
UK visitors last year numbered 649,000, the fourth largest behind New Zealand, China and the USA.
In total, tourism is worth A$170 billion a year to the country’s economy, a figure that is expected to rise to A$220 billion a year by 2030.
Tourism Australia’s Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said Australia was expecting “sustainable growth for the tourism industry.”
“Australia gives visitors a brand promise… and that is one of a very warm welcome. Along with seeing our iconic landmarks and experiences, we want them to and come and experience the welcoming nature of our people,” she said.
“People don’t visit Australia for the thread count of the sheets in their hotels, they travel here for what they can see and do – and our research shows us that they want to do at least 20 different things when they arrive.”
Harrison said “agri-tourism” is going to be something Tourism Australia will be “doubling down on” over the coming years.
“Australia’s food and wine industry is well known and increasingly one of the reasons people travel to Australia, but we are still not as well known for this as we should be.
“Across the country we have incredible experiences and produce, and we are going to be talking a lot more about that, and the stories of the people who produce it.”
“We will be talking about farm tours, food festivals, oyster farms, foraging experiences and more,” she said.
Coming game-changing events for Australian tourism include the opening of a second airport, the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, in Sydney next year, which should attract 10 million passengers by 2020 (unlike the existing Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport airport there will be no restrictions on planes arriving or departing), and the Olympic and Paralympic Games which will be held in Brisbane in 2032.
Aviation levels – that is the number of flights bringing arrivals into Australia – is back to 2019 level, said Harrison who pointed to Turkish Airlines, which now flies to Melbourne and Sydney.
“The reason we are excited that we (Australia) are now connected to Istanbul is that the airline flies to destinations from all over Europe – for example from 11 airports in Germany alone – so it makes Australia just so much more accessible for Europeans.
“Emirates will also be returning to Adelaide, opening up that city for UK flyers, via Dubai.”
More than 360 ‘infrastructure projects’ are currently underway, with half of these investments in “experiences and the remainder in hotels.
Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’Day campaign, fronted by Ruby the charismatic kangaroo, will run for at least another two years,” Harrison confirmed, but will tell “different, more modulated stories, with more local stories and stories about people.”
ATE, Tourism Australia’s largest annual trade event, was back in Brisbane for the first time in 17 years, attracting 1,600 Australian sellers and more than 700 global buyers, along with 61 media from 17 countries – a record turnout.
“It (ATE) plays a crucial role in driving business from key international tourism markets to Australian tourism operators, said Harrison.
“In a world where the distribution channels are fast changing, there is still an incredible need for business-to-business meetings and people to people connections, which is why ATE attracted record numbers in Brisbane,” she said.
