ACT receives record number of international visitors, but for shorter stays
Updated
International visitors are arriving in Canberra in greater numbers but are spending far less time in town, according to the latest tourism figures from the Federal Government.
Compared to 2015, last year saw international visitor numbers to the ACT increase by 7 per cent to almost 208,000, though still a tiny fraction of the total 7.6 million international visitors to Australia.
The increase in visitors helped boost their total spend in the ACT region to $452 million, up 15 per cent and well above the national average of 7 per cent.
But the annual figures from Tourism Research Australia (TRA) also showed the number of nights those visitors spent in Canberra plunged by 13 per cent.
Despite the shorter stays, the average amount of money spent on accommodation remained around the same.
Instead the amount spent per night rose by 33 per cent, from an average of $77 to $103.
The results suggest that Canberra accommodation is becoming more expensive or that visitors are choosing to upgrade their accommodation — either way it appears to be at the expense of spending more time in town.
The majority of international visitors to the ACT last year were on holidays or visiting friends and relatives.
There was a slight decrease in the number of people arriving for business or education.
In a statement the ACT Government welcomed the TRA report and said the international visitor numbers and their total spend are records for the territory.
"We look forward to seeing further positive results as we work towards growing the ACT's overnight visitor expenditure to $2.5 billion by 2020," the statement said.
"China remains the ACT's largest international visitor market, representing 19.7 per cent of all international visitors to the ACT, followed by the United Kingdom, United States of America, New Zealand and Singapore."
Topics: travel-and-tourism, tourism, industry, lifestyle-and-leisure, canberra-2600, act, australia
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