The value of Victoria’s burgeoning visitor economy has soared to $30 billion, cementing tourism as a key driver of the state’s economy and a jobs powerhouse. The Andrews Labor Government today confirmed the milestone, which shows major growth in international and domestic visitors who choose to spend their time and tourism dollars in Victoria.
According to Tourism Research Australia, Victoria welcomed 90.6 million international and domestic visitors who spent $30 billion in the year to March – growth of 11.2 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.
The top five international countries for visitors were China (679,900), New Zealand (345,900), the US (247,700), UK (221,700) and India (170,800). Chinese visitors have grown by 13 percent a year since 2014 while the number of Indian visitors more than doubled in the same period.
In regional Victoria, spending by all visitors was up by 10.4 percent to $11 billion, while the total number of visitors increased by 9.5 percent to 57.1 million.
Regional Victoria’s strongest performers experienced double-digit growth in spending, including Victoria’s High Country (20.3 percent), Gippsland (16.6 percent), the Murray (14.7 percent) and the Mornington Peninsula (14.1 per cent).
In Melbourne, total tourism spending grew by 10.3 percent to reach $19 billion while total visitors grew by 13.6 percent to reach 34.7 million.
Strong intrastate spending growth (up 16 percent) has been fuelled by a sharp rise in Victorians choosing to explore their own backyard thanks to the Labor Government’s Your Happy Place and Wander Victoria campaigns.
These results show the Government’s Visitor Economy Strategy – with a goal to increase visitor spending to $36.5 billion by 2025 – is on track.
The Government in Victoria continues to assemble an unbeatable calendar of major and local events to entice visitors while backing operators with infrastructure advancements across the state.
Tourism supports more than 214,000 jobs in Victoria, including 85,000 in regional areas. The Victorian Budget 2019/20 committed at extra $32 million to attract even more international, interstate and intrastate visitors across the state and create local jobs.
The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula said that from the picturesque High Country to the iconic beaches and the greatest city in the world, Melbourne, there is something for everyone in Victoria. These tourism figures show that they are on the right track and they are getting on with attracting even more visitors from Australia and around the world to experience the thrill of their major events, natural wonders, iconic food and wine scene and world-class accommodation.
