Tourism data shows strong recovery

New research has revealed Victoria’s tourism industry continues to rebound strongly from the era of pandemic lockdowns, with spending getting closer to pre-pandemic levels.

The research shows the Victorian tourism industry has recovered 4.9 percentage points in total expenditure market share, giving Victoria the highest percentage of market share across Australia, with the state’s visitor economy is now worth $26.5 billion.

According to Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey (NVS) and International Visit Survey (IVS) in the year ending September 2022, total tourism spend in Victoria has returned to 84 per cent of the pre-pandemic level, with visitors back to 78 per cent of the pre-pandemic activity.

NVS results also show total domestic spend now exceeds the pre-pandemic year ending September 2019 by 5 per cent to reach $24 billion, with very strong growth of 78 per cent year-on-year. In comparison, total domestic visitors are back to 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level, with 33 per cent year-on-year growth.

Melbourne has further extended its lead over Sydney as the city with the highest level of interstate overnight spend in Australia at $4.7 billion, compared to Sydney’s $4 billion in the year ending September 2022.

Regional Victoria continues to deliver strong results, with domestic overnight spend in regional Victoria up by 35 per cent at $9.6 billion, representing a significant increase from $7.1 billion in the year ending September 2019.

Visit Victoria CEO, Brendan McClements, said it was encouraging to see people flocking back to Victoria after a hard couple of years.

“After a difficult time for our industry, we’ve been unwavering in our resolve to get people back to Victoria through our Get Set and Stay Close, Go Further campaigns, as well as attracting a remarkable line up of major and business events,” he said.

“It’s pleasing to see that visitors are flooding back to Victoria to experience our incredible food, culture, creativity, nature and events.”

Roy Morgan’s Travel and Tourism Survey also shows that for the second consecutive quarter, Melbourne came out on top as the most preferred destination in Australia by interstate travellers.

The State Government has delivered significant support to ensure Victoria’s tourism industry was both supported through the pandemic and primed to recover after it, delivering $633 million as part of the Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan.