International visitors are returning to Australia’s shores in greater numbers with the number of short-term visitors up 131 per cent annually in April, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.
A total of 544,920 short-term trips were recorded, an increase of 309,450 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
The increase of about 310,000 people was underpinned by visitors from New Zealand (33,000), the US (21,000) and the UK (16,000).
Visitor numbers from South America and South Asia rose above 2019 levels in an encouraging sign of new markets opening up.
Despite the welcome surge, the numbers were still 22.2% lower than April 2019.
“The number of trips for April 2023 was 25.1 per cent lower than pre-Covid levels in April 2019,” the ABS stated.
NSW led the way with 200,230 arrivals in April (+ 143.3%), Victoria, welcomed 144,420 (+ 130%), Queensland recorded 105,730 (+135%).
