Report – Tourism Research Australia, retrieved 15 June 2023

State of the Industry – Australia’s tourism sector in 2022

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on Australia’s visitor economy from March 2020. However, Australians responded by travelling more in Australia in 2021 and 2022. The international border also reopened in early 2022, bringing a steady increase in international visitor arrivals.

The re-emerging visitor economy saw total tourism spend in Australia in 2022 surpass the 2019 level, largely due to strong domestic travel spend.

The rapid rise in demand for visitor services was affected by supply-side constraints in 2022, such as workforce shortages. Other countries around the globe experienced similar constraints.

Visitor economy outlook

The outlook for the visitor economy is brighter than at any time over the past 3 years. However, TRA forecasts a full recovery may take until 2025. Skills shortages are likely to ease over coming years.

The industry-led and government-enabled THRIVE 2030 Strategy, the national long-term tourism strategy, supports the recovery of the visitor economy through and after the pandemic. The Strategy aspires to boost expenditure in the visitor economy to $230 billion by the year 2030.

About this report

The State of the Industry report presents evidence and insights of Australia’s visitor economy performance in 2022. It reports on developments in the visitor economy and helps industry and government understand and adapt to the changing demand and supply environment by:

  • using data from many sources
  • reviewing trends in both demand and supply of visitor economy services
  • presenting contributions from TRA’s research partners.

Below are key metrics used to measure demand and supply in the visitor economy:

Demand and supply metrics

Demand metrics
Demand metric Description 2019 value 2022 value Change 2022 on 2019 (pre-pandemic) Change 2022 on 2021
Total visitor spend Combined value of total international visitor and total domestic visitor spend (in Australia only, excluding international students staying more than 12 months) $138.5 billion $143 billion 3% up 78% up
International visitor spend Spend from international visitors in Australia only (excluding international students staying more than 12 months) $31.4 billion $12.7 billion -59% down 780% up
Domestic overnight visitor spend Spend by Australian residents who travel away from home for at least one night (for non-routine purposes) $80.7 billion $101.3 billion 25% up 67% up
Domestic day trip visitor spend Spend by Australian residents travelling on a day trip (more than 4 hours and 50 km round-trip from their home, for non-routine purposes) $26.3 billion $29 billion 10% up 59% up
THRIVE 2030 target: Total visitor economy spend* Combined value of total international visitor and total domestic visitor spend (in Australia only) including international students staying more than 12 months $166.2 billion $164.2 billion -1% down 60% up
International visitors All international visitors to Australia aged 15 or over who stay less than 12 months 8.7 million 3.4 million -61% down 1424% up
International student visa holders in Australia** Number of international students in Australia that hold a student visa (primary or secondary, excluding the foreign affairs and defence sectors). 564.2 thousand 571.8 thousand 1.3% up 73% up
Domestic overnight trips Australian residents aged 15 or over who travel away from home for at least one night (for non-routine purposes) 117.4 million 108.2 million -8% down 32% up
Domestic day trips Australian residents aged 15 or over travelling on a day trip (more than 4 hours and 50 km round-trip from their home, for non-routine purposes) 248.3 million 201.4 million -19% down 26% up
Australian resident outbound trips All Australian residents returning from travel out of Australia for less than 12 months 11.3 million 5.2 million -54% down 1637% up

* This metric aligns with the THRIVE 2030 Strategy spend targets

** Data for 2019 (pre-pandemic year) refers to student visa holders as at 29/03/2020. Data for 2022 refers to student visa holders as at 27/03/2023.

Supply metrics
Supply metric Description 2019 value 2022 value Change 2022 on 2019 (pre-pandemic) Change 2022 on 2020
Accommodation rooms Total number of rooms available in accommodation establishments with 10 rooms or more 304.9 thousand 316.1 thousand 3.7% up 2.4% up
Accommodation occupancy Percentage of rooms sold, or occupied in establishments of 10 rooms or more 70.9% 66.5% -4.4 percentage points (ppts) down 13ppts up
International aviation seats Total number of seats available on flights to Australia 26.8 million 12.1 million -55% down 233% up
International aviation load factor Percentage of seats on flights into Australia occupied by revenue passengers 81.7% 80.6% -1.1ppts down 61.3ppts up
Domestic aviation seats Number of seats available to people flying within Australia 77.5 million 65.2 million -16% down 67% up
Domestic aviation load factor Percentage of seats on domestic flights occupied by revenue passengers 80.8% 78.9% -1.9ppts down 18ppts up
Tourism jobs Number of filled jobs in the tourism industry 757.5 thousand 676.4 thousand -11% down 42% up
Tourism businesses* Number of Australian businesses in tourism-related industries 324.2 thousand 358.3 thousand 11%up 6% up
Tourism investment* Total value of investment in tourism infrastructure projects valued over $20 million $45.3 billion $44.3 billion -2.2% down 3.5% up

* Data for year ending June (financial year basis).

Data sources for tables

Tourism spend and trips data

International student visa holder data

  • Department of Home Affairs, Student visa numbers inside and outside of Australia (data supplied by Department Education) accessed May 2023

Tourism jobs data

Domestic and international aviation data

Accommodation rooms and occupancy rates data

  • STR, subscription data, accessed April 2023

Tourism investment and tourism businesses data