As South Australia promotes itself on the world stage with a new campaign to coincide with Qatar Airways flying directly to Adelaide, new data has revealed our international visitor numbers are at a record high.
Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said the State Government worked around the clock to bring more international visitors to South Australia.
“Today’s Federal Government’s International Visitor Survey is brilliant news for our economy and brilliant news for our regions,” he said.
“The survey shows we have attracted almost 10 per cent more international tourists than this time last year and we are above the national growth rate.
“Today’s figures show a jump in the number of visitors from 373,000 to 408,000 in the 12 months to December 2015.
“Most importantly these visitors spent $897 million while they were here. This was spent in small businesses, restaurants, hotels, taxis and other shops in our pumping CBD and in our stunning regions.
“It was during these 12 months, the State Government announced it was investing an additional $35 million to market South Australia nationally and internationally and attract major events and conferences.
“This investment is paying off and we are continuing to build on this success. Today we can also reveal a marketing campaign to attract even more visitors from Europe.
“The 2015 Best Airline in the World, Qatar Airways, will be flying direct into Adelaide from May 3. Qatar is the richest country in the world per capita and for Adelaide to obtain direct flights is another global vote of confidence in South Australia.
“The daily flights, which will bring people from 36 cities in Europe, are estimated to generate an additional $41 million into our visitor economy and create 228 jobs across the state. Qatar Airways will be flying the most modern plane in the world to Adelaide – the Airbus A350-900.
“International visitors are critical to the state’s economic growth and the State Government is determined to achieve the goal of an $8 billion tourism industry by 2020.
“We also want to fill the cargo sections of those planes with premium food from South Australia so the people of Qatar can enjoy our sensational seafood and horticultural produce.”
