Australia is a popular place. Last year nearly 8.3 million visitors came to these shores, an 11 per cent increase on 2015.
The rise bodes well for airports, but more importantly for tour and resort operators, the rise in the number of tourists and people visiting friends and relatives was even stronger.
So-called leisure arrivals surged 13.7 per cent to 6.3 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Over the past year a record 1.2 million tourists came to Australia from China, up 16 per cent. Tourists from China and Hong Kong combined rose to a record 1.5 million in 2016, up 15.1 per cent over the year.
The benefits to the economy were demonstrated on February 14 when SeaLink Travel Group, which operates the Captain Cook Cruises business on Sydney Harbour and ferry services in Queensland and the Northern Territory, unveiled a 52 per cent rise in net profit after tax for the six months to December after a 42 per cent increase in revenue to $106 million.
Savanth Sebastian, senior economist at online broker CommSec, believes that tourism could play a greater role in the economy.
"The weaker Aussie dollar will drive further tourism inflows, providing support to the domestic tourism sector. Over time, the cheaper currency should make it more attractive to travel within Australia rather than overseas. Tourism has potential to join housing as a key driver of the Australian economy over the coming year, especially if the Aussie dollar falls further," Sebastian says.
