Chinese mainland takes top spot for visitors to Australia
The Chinese mainland has overtaken New Zealand as the biggest source of international visitors to Australia for the first time.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in April showed that 1.39 million people visited Australia from the Chinese mainland in the 12 months to February 2018, a 13.2 percent increase on the previous 12 months.
The momentum continued during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday this year, with a 11.2 percent year-on-year jump in Chinese tourists.
Australia has long been popular with Chinese tourists as an overseas destination, according to Tourism Australia.
The country’s attractions include abundant natural resources, gastronomic delicacies and quality wine, unique wild animals, enchanting waterfront views, the well-preserved Aboriginal culture and a vibrant urban lifestyle, the Australian government agency said in a media release.
The number of Chinese visitors to Australia has tripled since 2010 and Tourism Australia expects further growth up to 3.9 million every year by 2026.
Tourism Australia expects 42 percent of all international visitors to Australia to come from the Chinese mainland by 2020.
Steve Ciobo, Australia’s minister for trade, tourism and investment, said New Zealand remained a strong market for Australian tourism with 1.36 million visitors over the 12-month period.
Despite New Zealand traditionally being the biggest source of visitors to Australia, Chinese tourists have been outspending those from any other country since 2011.
“China has been Australia’s most valuable inbound tourism market since 2011, with visitors spending a record A$10.4 billion ($8.07 billion) in the year ending December 2017,” Ciobo said in a media release.
“This growth is set to continue with China’s increased prosperity forecast to fuel another trebling of numbers over the next decade to 3.9 million by 2026-27. The 2017 China-Australia Year of Tourism, a landmark open capacity aviation agreement with China and significant visa reform, have contributed to this incredible growth,” Ciobo said.
The 2017 China-Australia Year of Tourism was a government initiative to promote Australia as a destination in China through “targeted marketing, aviation liberalization and visa reform”.
The year witnessed a surge in flights between the two countries, following the open skies pact signed by the Chinese and Australian governments, which removed all capacity restrictions.
Capacity on flights from major Chinese cities to Australian gateway destinations, such as Sydney and Melbourne, had previously been limited to around 67,000 seats each week.
The Australian government also rolled out other favorable policies to attract Chinese tourists.
As of December 2016, Australia began a trial of a 10-year frequent traveler visitor visa for passport holders from the Chinese mainland. Since then, applicants from the Chinese mainland can complete their filings online and in Chinese without visiting an office. It was the first time that another language other than English was allowed in applications for an Australian visa, according to Tourism Australia.
More than 100 events took place throughout last year, including trade delegation visits, tourism exchanges and an exhibition game of the Australian Football League played for the first time in China.
Some 1.33 million Chinese tourists visited Australia last year, second only to New Zealand.
“Almost all states and territories saw growth in spending by international tourists during the year, with most recording double-digit increases,” Ciobo said.
“Tasmania continues to enjoy the strongest growth in the country, with spending by international tourists surging 31 percent during the year and up an incredible 90 percent over the past three years,” he added.