Released 12/12/2017
International visitors to Canberra have reached record levels, up a further 10.2 per cent in the past 12 months.
The 228,038 international visitors for the year ending September 2017 contributed an additional $114.8 million to the ACT economy – supporting our tourism industry which employs over 16,000 Canberrans.
The ACT Government has been working hard to attract more visitors to our city. Having helped secure the first direct international flights to our city last year, the Government has been increasing marketing efforts in key destinations such as Wellington, Singapore and China.
Our tourism figures continue to reach record levels in both national and international visitor numbers.
Lonely Planet recently announced that Canberra is the third best city in the world to visit in 2018, further bolstering our city’s reputation as a holiday destination for the coming year. Qatar Airways will also join Singapore Airlines in February 2018 offering direct international services from Canberra airport.
The Tourism Research Australia International Visitor Survey released today indicated money spent by our international visitors increased by 26.6 per cent up to a new record level of $547.4 million, well ahead of the national average of 10.4 per cent.
With a 30.3 per cent increase, China continues to be the ACT’s largest international visitor source market followed by the United Kingdom (9.6 per cent), United States of America (9.1 per cent), New Zealand (6.1 per cent), Indonesia (4.1 per cent) and India (3.7 per cent).
I thank the hard working Canberrans in our tourism sector that are catering for our international visitors.
- Statement ends -
Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases