Total tourist visitor nights

IBISWorld forecasts the total number of tourist visitor nights to rise by 2.2% during 2024-25 to a total of 713.2 million nights. This represents two consecutive years of growth in total tourist nights since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestically, local travel volumes will likely rise, fuelled by pent-up demand and a recovering economy. After pandemic restrictions and border closures, many Australians are eager to travel domestically. The number of international tourist visitor nights is also projected to inch upwards in 2024-25. International travel to Australia has been recovering since the easing of international border restrictions in February 2022 and is expected to continue following this upward trend.

Over the past decade, international visitors have taken up an increasing share of total visitor nights. Visitor nights for people travelling for a holiday, to visit friends or relatives, or for educational purposes have surged, with Australia increasingly becoming a popular tourist destination for overseas visitors. In addition, the expansion of overseas airlines into the Australian market and the depreciation of the Australian dollar made it more affordable for visitors to come to Australia. As of the end of December 2024 (latest data available), Australia's top 5 largest sources of international visitor nights were from New Zealand, China, the United States, the United Kingdom and India, according to Tourism Research Australia.

The COVID-19 pandemic and extended periods of government-imposed lockdowns and state border controls have also constrained domestic tourism over the past few years. However, domestic tourism recovered earlier than inbound tourism, with domestic tourist visitor nights expected to rise over the two years post-pandemic through 2024-25 to be on par with pre-COVID-19 levels. For the year ending December 2024, Tourism Research Australia revealed that the leading reason for domestic travel among Australians was for holidays, while visiting friends and relatives was the second most common travel motivation. Business trips and other purposes, like education, accounted for the remainder of the domestic travel activities. Except for the category of visiting friends and relatives, other reasons for travel to the country remained below the December 2019 levels, indicating progress towards recovery. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts total tourist visitor nights to climb at a compound annual rate of 7.7% over the five years through 2024-25.