AUSTRALIA. The Australian inbound market is beginning to rebound, with a +6% jump in international arrivals in January compared with the same month in 2003, Australian website Travelbiz reported today.
Australian Tourist Commission managing director Ken Boundy said the new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics highlighted the strong start to the year for inbound tourism.
“Australia has recorded the highest tourist arrivals on record for the month of January,” he said, “overtaking the previous record month in 2001 when Australia was riding high on the wave of Sydney 2000 Olympics post-event tourism flow-on.
“Tourist markets in Asia were the biggest contributor to arrivals growth for the month, with many travellers from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia timing their visit to coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations in Australia.”
Boundy said China delivered the biggest growth in visitor number with an increase of +50% to 31,000 visitors – the highest total for that market in January.
He said New Zealand also continued to deliver strong results in January with visitor numbers growing by +14%.
The Japan market was up for a second consecutive month, with a +2.5% increase in January.
However, the US, UK and some markets in Europe appeared to have slowed.
