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More than a million fewer international travellers visited Australia last year compared to pre-pandemic 2019, according to the latest government figures.
However, new research from Tourism Research Australia (TRA) has revealed that, despite the decrease, spending by the 8.3 million visitors reached a record $32.9 billion, driven in part by overseas students and backpackers.
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It comes as the industry edges toward a full recovery from COVID-19 disruption, which has broadly seen domestic travel stagnate, while international flights match or surpass 2019 numbers.
Analysts have blamed the stuttering comeback on cost-of-living pressures, conflict in Europe and the Middle East, as well as a rise in favouring video calls for meetings over business travel.
“In 2024, Australians continued to prioritise travel and demand for domestic trips remained high, particularly short trips close to home,” Grant Ferres, head of Tourism Research Australia, said.
“However, overall growth was muted and travellers adjusted spending patterns in light of household financial pressures. On the international side, there was continued growth in arrivals from many source markets, with key markets in our region standing out.
“However, the total number of short-term visitor arrivals remained lower than the previous peak, which remains a key challenge for some parts of the visitor economy. Importantly, the visitor economy expanded and adapted to service tourism demand in Australia in 2024, however, some supply constraints were still noticeable.
“The high level of government and private investment taking place in the sector will give confidence for future growth.”
Key statistics outlined in TRA’s ‘Australia’s visitor economy in 2024’ include that Australia’s visitor economy welcomed 15 per cent more international visitors than in 2023, hosted more domestic overnight trips, and sustained a record high number of filled tourism jobs and tourism businesses.
You can read the report in full here.
The news comes after Australian Aviation reported in May how Sydney Airport saw its biggest-ever quarter for international travel.
A record high of 4.32 million international passengers passed through its terminals in the first quarter of 2025, up 3.9 per cent on the same quarter in 2024, as well as 6.08 million domestic and regional passengers for a total of 10.4 million.
Sydney Airport chief executive Scott Charlton said the result was a strong start to the year and underscored the “continued strength of global travel demand”.
“This momentum is further bolstered by key developments, including the announcement of Hong Kong Airlines, which will begin flying in June and Turkish Airlines expanding to daily services starting December,” Charlton said.
In April, meanwhile, analysis from Flight Centre indicated that Australian travel capacity to and from Asia was surging, while travel to the US was slumping as a destination.
Capacity between Australia and Asia hit its highest-ever levels, with India at 346 per cent of pre-pandemic figures, Vietnam at 263 per cent, and South Korea at 153 per cent.
Singapore, the Philippines, China, and Hong Kong, meanwhile, were all in the top 10 destinations for Australian business travellers last year.
It came as Australia moves to expand its bilateral air service agreements, with Malaysia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong among the destinations seeing a boost to their permitted capacity.
