Growth in arrivals from New Zealand, Japan and South Korea has helped to offset a fall in Chinese visitors to Australia in February, according to Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) analysis of the latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures figures.
International arrivals fell 0.5% in February, with Chinese arrivals down 13.4% due to Lunar New Year falling in January this year after occurring in February 2011.
TTF chief executive John Lee said the relative stability in arrivals is a good result.
“Today’s figures show that Australia is not reliant on one country for international visitors, with arrivals from New Zealand up 7.9% and Japan up 6.0%,” Lee said.
“We hope this is a sign of things to come, as both countries continue to recover from last year’s devastating natural disasters, while February also saw growth in arrivals from Korea (9.3%), India (9.0%) and Italy (23.3%), displaying the diversity of Australia’s source markets.
“This clearly demonstrates the need to continue to promote Australia in a variety of markets and that a ramping up of activities in China must be supported by additional funding, not by shifting resources from other areas.
“Many countries have recognised the potential of China as a source market and while Australia undoubtedly needs a strong presence there that should not come at the expense of campaigns in other countries,” Lee added.
