Arrivals continue growth

SHORT-TERM visitor arrivals to Australia continued their long run of growth in Jul, increasing 7.1% over the same month last year on a trend estimate.

Figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show 745,400 visitor movements during the month, an increase of 0.6% over Jun.

The increase follows growth of 0.8% in May and 0.7% in Jun, and continues the steep upward trend reported by the ABS over recent years, with arrivals up by 100,000 per month since Nov 2015.

Travel among Australian residents grew at a similar rate, with short-term returns during Jul up 6.5% over the same month last year on a trend basis.

Just over 884,000 Australian residents came home in Jul, an increase of 0.1% over Jun.

This followed a monthly increase of 0.2% in May and a flat result recorded in Jun.

Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said the latest ABS figures confirmed the strong performance of inbound tourism to Australia, with markets across Asia continuing to produce solid increases in visitation.

“Alongside our key markets in Asia we are also seeing phenomenal results out of the USA, which as the Jul figures show is outpacing overall growth to Australia and continues to present such a huge opportunity for our industry,” O’Sullivan said.

“For the remainder of 2017 our focus will be working with our partners across the globe to continue to deliver exciting opportunities for industry so we can convert the demand for Australia to actual visits.”