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Does the relatively low-stress (and potentially low-cost) nature of a holiday within Australia’s borders sound good to you? If so, you’re not alone; new research from Tourism Research Australia shows that an increasing number Aussies are choosing our land of plenty over others as their holiday destination, totaling $117.9 billion of spending for the past year.
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Minister for Tourism Steven Ciobo was highly enthusiastic about the news, describing the record spending as “an early Christmas present for Australian tourism businesses”.
He also encouraged Australians to “even up the work/life ledger and take a holiday at home”.
Our #tourism industry retains its super growth status, according to @ABSStats – driving ?? jobs & economic growth https://t.co/ayBpdSzfx9
— Steven Ciobo (@StevenCiobo) 21 December 2016
It’s obviously been a fantastic year for Australian domestic tourism – but let’s take a look at exactly how fantastic.
The statistics on Australian domestic tourism
There’s some seriously big numbers attached to the year ending September 2016 when it comes to Australian domestic tourism.
Other key figures include:
- The previously mentioned total domestic tourism spend of $117.9 billion for the year, a 6%/$7.1 billion increase for the year.
- Family-related holidays aren’t seeing the same growth as other areas; the number of domestic overnight trips only increased by 2%, and the number of day trips decreased by 1%. Maybe people aren’t making use of our advice on how to de-stress their family holidays?
- Business trips took a hit as well, with trips and total spend increasing by only 25%, and nights away falling by 2%.
- Owners of B&Bs and caravan parks/commercial camping grounds have had a good year. Nights spent in B&Bs increased by 19% to 3.6 million, and nights spent in the latter increased by 14% to 33.1 million.
On the lookout for a frequent flyer credit card that will earn you points for travel? Check out our comparison table below which provides a snapshot of the credit cards on offer that could help you earn your next flight! These have been sorted by airline points per $1 spent (highest to lowest) and are based on a $2,000 monthly spend.
Which states are benefiting the most?
While every state and territory managed to crack at least $2 billion in tourism spending, some went truly above and beyond that figure. New South Wales and North Queensland were the biggest earners, with 29.1 million visitors and $16.5 billion spent in NSW, and 20.1 million visitors and $14.7 billion spent in Queensland.
The other states were as follows:
- Victoria – 7 million visitors, $12 billion spent
- West Australia – 4 million visitors, $7.2 billion spent
- South Australia – 2 million visitors, $3.8 billion spent
- Northern Territory – 5 million visitors, $2.1 billion spent
- Tasmania – 5 million visitors, $2 billion spent
- ACT – 4 million visitors, $1.3 billion spent
If you’re planning on taking an intra-country holiday anytime soon, you’ll need domestic travel insurance to cover lost luggage and changes to your travel plans thanks to flight delays or the like. Canstar regularly researches and rates travel insurance for trips within Australia (as well as international travel insurance), so visit the Canstar website to compare policies.
If you weren’t already planning on a trip within Australia, why not give it some thought? We’ve got so many places to go and things to see! As long as you’re careful about the wildlife…
