CHINESE visitors to Australia are not only the fastest growing group of tourists down under, they are also the biggest spenders.
In the year to March, one in eight visitors to Australia was from China and they accounted for almost 20 per cent of all tourist expenditure or $6.4 billion.
In contrast, New Zealand visitors accounted for one in six visitors to Australia but contributed a mere $2.4 billion, or 7.6 per cent of total spending.
Say cheese ... Chinese tourist Yeyun Shang (left) snaps a photo of Linfu Wen near the Gold Coast Seaway. Picture: Regi Varghese/News Corp Australia Source: News Corp Australia
The latest International Visitor Survey compiled by Tourism Research Australia showed the cashed up Chinese shelled out an average $7769 on a trip down under, and stayed an average six weeks.
Thrifty New Zealand tourists spent an average of just $2172 during a two week stay.
The big spending Chinese helped Australia achieve a record result of $32.5 billion expenditure by international visitors in the 12-month period, up ten per cent on the previous year.
The lion’s share of that went to New South Wales ($7.4 billion), followed by Victoria ($5.4 billion), Queensland ($4.4 billion), and Western Australia ($2.3 billion).
Sydney continued to be the nation’s tourist capital, attracting just over 3 million international visitors, followed by Melbourne with 2.1 million then Brisbane with one million.
Tourist bait ... Images like this have helped attract Chinese visitors in huge numbers down under. Picture: Supplied.Source: Supplied
Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond said the result was “amazing” but should not be taken for granted.
“To capitalise on this growth in Chinese visitors, we must ensure visiting Australia is a fantastic experience,” said Ms Osmond.
“Crucial to this is investing in transport infrastructure such as links to airports like Melbourne’s Tullamarine and Sydney’s Badgerys Creek as well as demand driven infrastructure like national parks, cultural venues, convention centres and urban open spaces.”
Managing Director of the Australian Tourism Export Council, Peter Shelley, said the strong result showed the importance of hosting international events.
The Asian Cup Football and Cricket World Cup in the first three months of the year, drove
considerable traffic to Australia from India, the UK, Pakistan, Malaysia and South Korea.
Popular ... China’s Shaozhe Yang, hosts tours around Hobart for Chinese Tourism Tasmania. Pictured here with Sydney travel agent Lily Lin. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: News Corp Australia
“Across the board, we are seeing double digit success in a wide number of markets, all of which are showing signs of further upward growth,” Mr Shelley said.
Almost two-thirds of the 6.5 million visitors to Australia had travelled down under before, including 94 per cent of New Zealand arrivals.
Tasmania achieved the biggest growth of any state, with overseas visitors up 28 per cent, and spending up 42 per cent.
The only state not to fare so well was South Australia, where visitors declined by one per cent, and spending was down seven per cent, to $690 million.
0 Comment to "Cashed up Chinese tourists putting Kiwis to shame in Australia"
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.