Tourism breaks Australia Olympic record with over 5 million visitors in 2003/04

The latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate there were 5,057,200 overseas visitors to Australia during the 2003/04 financial year, a rise of 9 per cent compared to the 2002/03 financial year. This result breaks the previous record of 5.031 million visitors set in 2000/01, when tourism to Australia was boosted by the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Meanwhile, travellers from the Arab World have increased by 16 per cent for the same period, confirming the growing interest in Australia as a tourism destination for visitors from the region.

For the six months to June 2004 the number of international visitors to Australia has grown to 2.4 million providing good reason for the industry to be cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the remainder of the year.

"In the first six months of this year tourist numbers have grown by 15 per cent compared to the previous year," Tourism Australia's business development manager for Western Hemisphere, Rodney Harrex said.

"As for the Arab world, the growth has been phenomenal, with a 24 per cent increase," he said, adding that the latest figures highlighted the importance of international tourism marketing to ensure a strong recovery for Australian tourism.

"The industry has produced a record result off the back of one of the most challenging periods for tourism to Australia. "This remarkable recovery highlights Australia's resilience as a destination and the importance of our post-SARS marketing efforts internationally to ensure travellers continue to travel to and experience Australia.

"During 2003/04 Australia received around 400,000 more international visitors than the previous year, which equals around $1 billion in export earnings for Australia's economy," said Harrex.

"The results from the Arab world have been encouraging, with a solid increase of incoming travellers lured by the Australian attractions of good weather, good value for money, abundant attractions for all family members and the charm of the Australian people themselves. The huge increase in routes and airlines flying into Australia has also boosted interest and passenger numbers," said Chris Anns, Tourism Australia's Dubai-based business development manager.