Figures published by Austrade indicate that domestic tourism spend in August was up by nearly a third compared to the pre-pandemic month of August 2019.
The National Visitor Survey Snapshot estimate tourism activity each month and provides statistics on domestic tourism.
August figures show that domestic tourism continues to recover and while Australians took slightly less overnight trips (8.5 million nights and down by 1% compared to August 2019), overnight spend was $8.1 billion, up 30% on August 2019.
Interstate overnight trips in August were down slightly by 3% but spend was up by an impressive 25% – an additional $949 million to $4.8 billion. The two outstanding performers were Queensland and South Australia, which between them reaped over 60% of the increased spend. Queensland’s income was up by 51% or $453 million, and South Australia by 83% or $127 million
Business travel spend was down by 8% compared to August 2019 and the number of business trips down by 18%.
The report noted the key role of business events in the recovery of local economies.
“Business travel is of particular importance to the visitor economies of Australia’s capital cities. It enables value-added events such as conferences, seminars and trade fairs.” The report stated.
