International Visitor Survey monthly snapshot

International Tourism September 2023

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

Notes on the data

• This report compares the month of September 2023 with the pre-pandemic month of September 2019.
• Spend in Australia is different to total spend. Total spend includes purchases made overseas such as: 
  • international connections and stopovers (including airfares)
  • other pre-travel or post-travel spend in the source market or elsewhere outside Australia. For example, luggage, visas, duty-free retail and ground transport.
• Unless stated otherwise, spend is reported as spend in Australia. This standard is developed using the United Nations Statistics Commission's International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008. This defines inbound expenditure as only expenditure in the economy of reference.

Key results

International visitor spend in Australia exceeded pre-COVID levels by 11%. Trips and nights to Australia were 84% and 91% of pre-COVID levels respectively. The September 2023 results show international visitors: 

• took 549,000 international trips to Australia
• had 18.3 million nights away 
• spent $2.2 billion during their trips.

Top 4 reasons for travel

The top 4 main reasons for travel to Australia in the month of September 2023:

Holiday travel with 215,000 trips. 

• This was 75% of pre-COVID levels. 
• Spend was $758 million, 112% of pre-COVID levels.

Visiting friends and relatives with 195,000 trips. 

• This was 97% of pre-COVID levels. 
• Spend was $391 million, 123% of pre-COVID levels.

Business travel with 67,000 trips. 

• This was 72% of pre-COVID levels. 
• Spend was $205 million, 118% of pre-COVID levels.

Education-related travel with 30,000 trips. 

• This was 85% of pre-COVID levels. 
• Spend was $653 million, 100% of pre-COVID levels.

Spend by international students accounted for 29% of the total monthly international visitor spend.

Top 5 international visitor markets 

Australia’s top 5 international markets in the month of September 2023: 

• New Zealand with 114,000 trips. 
  • This was 100% of pre-COVID levels.  
  • Spend was $215 million, 147% of pre-COVID levels.  
• China with 57,000 trips. 
  • This was 60% of pre-COVID levels.  
  • Spend was $480 million, 94% of pre-COVID levels.  
• United States of America with 35,000 trips. 
  • This was 75% of pre-COVID levels.  
  • Spend was $147 million, 139% of pre-COVID levels. 
• United Kingdom with 35,000 trips. 
  • This was 87% of pre-COVID levels.  
  • Spend was $163 million, 187% of pre-COVID levels. 
• India with 29,000 trips. 
  • This was 93% of pre-COVID levels.  
  • Spend was $77 million, 93% of pre-COVID levels. 

Regional and capital city visitors and spend 

In September 2023, international visitors made 514,000 trips to Australia’s capital cities. 

• This was 84% of pre-COVID levels.  
• Spend was $1.9 billion, 115% of pre-COVID levels. 

In September 2023, international visitors made 147,000 trips to Australia’s regional areas. 

• This was 73% of pre-COVID levels.  
• Spend was $343 million, 96% of pre-COVID levels.  

Total spend 

Total spend in September 2023 was $3.4 billion. This was 116% of pre-COVID levels.  

Total spend includes purchases made overseas such as:  

• international connections and stopovers (including airfares)  
• other pre-travel or post-travel spend in the source market or elsewhere outside Australia. For example, luggage, visas, duty-free retail and ground transport. 

Data tables

Read more

• Explore data from our international and national visitor surveys using TRA Online. Find out more on our Services page.
• Read the International Visitor Survey methodology.
• Find previous reports on our Data and research page.