Australia’s inbound tourism sector is nearing a full recovery from the pandemic, with international arrivals reaching 9.1 million visitors in the year to March, up almost 10% year-on-year and equivalent to 99% of 2019 levels, Tourism Australia Managing Director Robin Mack said at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in Adelaide.
Speaking at the 46th edition of ATE, Mack said the event was the largest in its history, with more than 55,000 appointments scheduled between buyers and sellers over four days and delegates attending from 32 international markets.
International visitor spending reached A$56 billion over the same period, up 14%, while tourism employment rose 5% to 736,000 jobs nationwide. Leisure visitors accounted for 7.1 million arrivals, with holiday travel climbing nearly 13% to 4.1 million visitors.
China recorded a 21% increase in arrivals, Hong Kong rose 24%, and the United Kingdom grew 19% following major sporting events, including the British and Irish Lions tour and Ashes cricket series. South Korea surpassed 400,000 annual visitors for the first time, while France and Italy posted growth of 16% and 17% respectively.
Mack said aviation capacity remained critical to Australia’s tourism outlook, despite disruptions linked to instability in the Middle East.
“We will still have more seats into Australia for the rest of this calendar year than we had last year,” he said.
Tourism Australia said its “Come, and Say G’day” campaign had now generated 743 million views globally, up 42% since January, while its Aussie Specialist Program reached a record 40,000 qualified travel agents across 100 countries.
Mack also outlined the Tourism 2035 strategy, targeting international visitor expenditure growth from A$33 billion in 2025 to between A$61 billion and A$69 billion by 2035, driven by high-yield leisure, working-holiday, and business-event travellers.
Tourism Australia estimates the country will require an additional 4.4 million international airline seats over the next decade to support that growth.
by Roderick Eime – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 2 minutes.
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Widely published, multiple award-winning specialty travel and tourism journalist and photographer with a broad general knowledge.
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