A record 8.5 million tourists made Australia their holiday destination of choice last year, according to the latest International Visitor Survey released on Sunday.
Tourists from China again led the way with a total of 1.3 million visitors coming to Australia, a rise of five per cent from the previous year. The group spent $11.7 billion, which was a rise of 13 per cent.
Tourists from New Zealand remained in second spot with 1.3 million visitors, while the Japanese market came in third spot, with arrivals reaching 434,000, a rise of 8 per cent.
India continues to be the strongest performing market for tourists holidaying in Australia, with 336,000 arrivals in 2018, which was an increase of 18 per cent.
MP Simon Birmingham
AAP
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the record high tourist numbers pumped an extra $44 billion into the economy, which is a seven per cent increase from last year.
"These latest results show an extra 425,000 overseas tourists flocked to Australia in the last year and importantly, injected an extra $3.1 billion into the Australian economy," he said.
"In the last year we have seen, what is equivalent to, an extra 1000 jumbos arrive in our airports, full of tourists from around the globe, keen to experience an Australian holiday."
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Mr Birmingham said the Asian markets were "key" to Australia's economic growth.
“Asia presents an enormous tourism opportunity for Australia thanks to the region’s huge emerging middle class, ever improving aviation capacity and increasingly competitive airfares," he said.
“Within the Chinese market specifically, we are also seeing a noticeable shift towards Free and Independent Travellers (FIT), who are more likely to stay longer, spend more and disperse more widely across regional Australia."
NSW was the most popular destination for tourists with 4.37 million, following by Victoria with 3.03 million and Queensland with 2.76 million.
