Government agency Tourism Research Australia says there were 6.5 million visitors into Australia in the 12 months to March, up by eight per cent.
Tourism Australia CEO John O'Sullivan says a busy event calendar helped to propel interest.
"We've had some major event traffic in the beginning of the year. The Cricket World Cup. The Asian World Cup. But we've also had a phenomenal Chinese New Year."
While most came from New Zealand, those from India saw the largest increase by percentage change: up 25 per cent.
But Chinese visitors are making the biggest impact.
Source: Tourism Research Australia
Over the last 12 months, 829,000 took a trip to Australia, with spending growing from $1.5 billion 10 years ago, to almost $6.5 billion today.
China now accounts for 20 per cent of all trip spending by international visitors, which incidentally rose to a record $32.5 billion.
While most international visitors to Australia are here on holiday or to visit family and friends, John O'Sullivan says business travellers are important because they're increasingly spending more money.
Source: Tourism Research Australia
"We saw business travel in these latest set of figures - $3.5 billion - that was a seven per cent increase, even-though there was only a one per cent increase in the number of visitors that are spending more."
Business travellers are also supporting vital infrastructure like Sydney's International Convention Centre currently under construction along with extensions to similar buildings in Brisbane and Adelaide, he added.
"It also supports the hotel infrastructure as well. A lot of these events are incentive groups. They are meeting groups and go in to use our four and five star product, not only in the metro centres but regional centres as well."
Business Events Sydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith says these incentive groups are being sent by global corporations rewarding their top achievers.
"They are shopping, they are eating at our restaurants and they are visiting our attractions and cultural icons. They want an immersive experience in our Indigenous culture, they are really inquisitive as to where our heritage comes from."
She says there are a number of things small business owners can do to capitalise on Australia's popularity.
"Mandarin speaking staff, free Wi-Fi to get them through the door. Offer China UnionPay because it's the bankcard for the Chinese, and be savvy with your pricing because this clientele knows the difference between your prices and the internet."
A weaker Australian dollar is also driving the tourism industry down about one third against both China's Renminbi and the US dollar since their 2011 peaks.
CommSec's Tom Piotrowski says that weakness is likely to continue.
"If you think of the global investment market as a group of interest rate bearing accounts, the US is likely to raise interest rates, so global investors want to get access to the US dollar. That's pushing the greenback higher, and making all other currencies against them, tending to underperform."
