Continued growth of international visitors to the Southern Great Barrier Reef Destination!
Posted on March 22nd, 2017
The latest statistics from Tourism Research Australia confirm that international visitation to Australia, Queensland and the Southern Great Barrier Reef continues to grow.
In the twelve (12) months to December 2016, international visitors to the Southern Great Barrier Reef (SGBR) destination (Capricorn, Gladstone and Bundaberg regions) has grown by 3.9% to 142,000 visitors, which is an increase of 2,000 international visitors.
The average length of stay for international visitors to the Southern Great Barrier Reef destination is 14.7 nights which accounted for 2.7 million international visitor nights.
Capricorn Enterprise Chief Executive Mary Carroll said “It is very exciting that international visitor numbers continue to increase in the SGBR destination. We have seen consistent growth in our international visitors to our destination over the past six years since we formed the Southern Great Barrier Reef destination partnership between the three regions of Capricorn, Gladstone and Bundaberg and strongly supported by Tourism and Events Queensland. The success of this partnership continues to grow from strength to strength.”
“We have worked so very hard with our local industry to ensure we have the right product development, industry knowledge and the delivery of quality experiences which will appeal to our existing as well as potential customers” she said.
Queensland’s international visitation has increased 10.2% to 2.6 million with an overnight visitor expenditure (OVE) of $5.1 Billion to the year ending December 2016. International Visitors to Australia has increased by 11.3% to 7.5 million with an OVE of $26.2 Billion to the year ending December 2016.
The majority of the 142,000 international visitors to the Southern Great Barrier Reef destination are holiday makers (112,000) while 19,000 are visiting friends and relatives.
“The top five (5) international markets to our region are from the UK, NZ, Germany, USA and France due to our wide open spaces, unspoiled natural beauty and authentic Australian experiences. We have targeted these international markets in tourism trade and consumer activity and it has worked, with an 11% increase from the UK (to 26,000 visitors), an increase of 7.4% from Germany (to 21,000 visitors) and an increase of 27% from the USA (to 12,000 visitors)” she said.
