Main content

Domestic tourism September 2023

Tourism Research Australia’s (TRA’s) monthly snapshots estimate tourism activity in the related month. We also produce quarterly and annual summaries.

This report compares the month of September 2023 with the month of September 2022 unless stated otherwise.

attach_money
Overnight spend

$8.8 billion | Down 11% on September 2022

person
Overnight trips

8.8 million | Down 9% on September 2022

clear_night
Nights spend on trips

31.7 million | Down 10% on September 2022

Key results

September 2023 saw weaker domestic tourism results when compared to September 2022. Overnight spend, trips and nights were all down. 

Breakdown of results

In September 2023:

  • spend was $8.8 billion. This was down 11% on September 2022.
  • visitors spent 31.7 million nights away. This was down 10% on September 2022.
  • there were 8.8 million overnight trips. This was down 9% on September 2022.
  • Early data shows domestic overnight trip rates for October 2023 were weaker compared to October 2019 and 2022. Data for the first 3 weeks of November 2023 also show weaker results when compared to November 2019 and 2022.

The November 2023 trip rate shows 28% of NVS respondents interviewed in weeks 1, 2 and 3 took one or more overnight trips. The reference period for these interviews would be the preceding 28 days. The return date for some trips would be in October 2023.

The overnight trip estimate of 8.8 million for September 2023 refers to overnight trips returned from in that month.

Spend by expenditure item

Results for September 2023 show a decrease in spend on all major tourism expenditure items.

In September 2023, Australians spent:

  • $2.42 billion on accommodation
  • $2.24 billion on food and drink
  • $1.29 billion on domestic airfares
  • $0.85 billion on petrol
  • $0.49 billion on shopping
  • $0.34 billion on organised tours and entertainment.

Compared to September 2022, this was a:

  • 10% decrease in spend on accommodation
  • 10% decrease in spend on food and drink
  • 11% decrease in domestic airfares
  • 16% decrease in spend on petrol
  • 31% decrease in spend on shopping
  • 43% decrease in spend on organised tours and entertainment.

Interstate and intrastate travel

Interstate

Interstate overnight trips, nights away and spend were weaker in September 2023 compared to September 2022. 

In September 2023, Australians:

  • took 2.6 million interstate trips
  • spent $4.6 billion.

Compared to September 2022, this was a:

  • 15% decrease in overnight trips
  • 17% decrease in spend.

Intrastate

Intrastate overnight trips, nights away and spend were weaker in September 2023 compared to September 2022.

In September 2023, Australians:

  • took 6.2 million intrastate trips
  • spent $4.2 billion.

Compared to September 2022, this was a:

  • 6% decrease in overnight trips
  • 4% decrease in spend.

Domestic day trips

In September 2023, Australians:

  • took 19.1 million day trips
  • spent $3.5 billion.

Compared to September 2022 this was a:

  • 3% increase in day trips
  • 35% increase in spend.

National Visitor Survey results monthly data tables

chart_data

Monthly data for overnight and day travel by state and territory September 2023 compared to September 2022

 
download

XLS 322KB

chart_data

Monthly data for overnight and day travel by state and territory September 2023 compared to September 2019

 
download

XLS 176KB

Read more

Contact TRA

mail   tourism.research@tra.gov.au

Footer content