Dom spending frenzy in Feb

AUSTRALIA’S visitor economy enjoyed robust growth in Feb 2023, with overnight trips, nights away and spend all surpassing Feb 2020 levels, according to the latest domestic tourism data from Tourism Research Australia (TRA).

The country’s overnight spend was up by 46% compared to a year ago, despite the number of overnight trips and nights away rising by just 4% and 9% respectively, with accommodation seeing the largest spend increase.

Tasmania saw the highest increase in spend in Feb 2023 out of all the states and territories, up 94% compared to Feb 2020, followed by Queensland (+69%), NSW (+46%) and ACT (+45%).

Australia’s capital cities all experienced an increase in visitor spend for Feb 2023 compared to the same period in 2020, except for Adelaide, which saw a 23% drop, with the South Australian capital also seeing a whopping 82% fall in visitor numbers.

The state’s regional areas, however, enjoyed the highest spend growth, up an impressive 77% in Feb 2023, followed by regional Queensland (up 63%), regional NSW (+61%) and regional Victoria (+60%), with regional Western Australia trailing behind with just a 26% increase.

Overall, regional Australia enjoyed growth in both overnight trip and spend levels, with visitors spending 57% more in Feb 2023 than they did in Feb 2020, and taking 10% more overnight trips.

The TRA monthly snapshot also revealed that Aussie travellers spent 16% more during domestic day trips throughout Feb 2023, despite the overall number of day trips decreasing by 16%.

Interestingly, Australians took 33% less interstate trips in Feb 2023 than they did in Feb 2020, while intrastate trips were up slightly by 6%.