Queensland Tourism Experiences a Boom in International Visitors

qld-tourism-graphReports show Queensland tourism has had a good year with a big increase in international visitors.

The International Visitor Survey for the year ending in March 2013 revealed a boost of six per cent in international holiday makers visiting Queensland destinations, with 1.4 million overseas visitors spending more than $2.1 billion.

With higher increases than most of the national averages, Queensland received visitors from competitive international markets including China (up 23%), the US (up 11%), Japan (up 7%), Germany (up 12%) and Singapore (up 34%).

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey said these encouraging results have highlighted the importance of the State Government’s $8 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, established last year to secure new aviation business into Queensland.

“Our goal is to grow annual overnight visitor expenditure to $30 billion by 2020 and today’s figures again show that aviation access will be the key,” Ms Stuckey said.

Availability of flights into Queensland was a major factor in the boost to tourism, particularly from our Asian neighbours China and Singapore.

“A record 279,000 Chinese visitors travelled to Queensland in the year to March 2013, fuelled by increased air access into the State, particularly for times of high demand like Chinese New Year celebrations,” she said.

Singapore’s newest airline Scoot made a partnership with Gold Coast Airport last year to provide a service five times a week.

“The State is reaping the rewards welcoming 71,000 Singaporeans, with the Gold Coast in particular benefiting with a 67 per cent increase to 40,000 visitors,” Ms Stuckey said.

The overall results also include an 11 per cent increase in visitor nights in Queensland to 45.5 million and a boom in visitor spending to almost $4 billion.

Take a look at the results of the latest International Visitor Survey to see the promising figures and where our strongest tourism sectors are.

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