Published: 28 June 2023
The latest data from Tourism Research Australia shows visitor spend in Victoria has hit a record high of $35 billion annually. The report, released today, represents the year ending March 2023.
This record high already reaches the Victorian Government’s 2024 tourism target outlined in the Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan. Visitor spend has also surpassed the 2019 pre-COVID peak of $32.5 billion.
Victoria is leading the nation’s tourism recovery with 22.1% of Australia’s total visitor spend over the 12-month period. This is the largest increase in the country, increasing by 2.9 percentage points.
Melbourne has also kept its crown as the top interstate overnight leisure destination in Australia. A total of 3.6 million visitors stayed 14.6 million nights. Visitors soaked up the city’s major events, stage productions and world-class restaurants. These visitors injected $5.1 billion into Victoria’s economy.
Regional Victoria continued to deliver outstanding results. All tourism regions hit all-time highs. Total domestic visitor spend in Phillip Island increased by 85%, the High Country by 74%, and the Grampians by 72% since 2019.
The number of Victorians enjoying a regional overnight stay increased by 6%, with 16.3 million travellers exploring our world-class wineries, inland towns, magnificent parks, high country, and coastal villages and peninsulas. Victorians injected $8.5 billion into the state’s economy, staying a total of 41.8 million nights (up 8%).
International markets continued to recover reaching $4.2 billion in visitor expenditure in Victoria in the year ending March 2023. This is approximately 50% of 2019 levels.
China has returned as the number one international market in expenditure after only reopening borders in January. India also continues to grow its international market with visitor expenditure, now 11 % higher than 2019.
For more information on visitor data visit our Research and insights hub.
