International research
Explore the latest survey results and market profiles
The Tourism, Events and Visitor Economy's (TEVE) international research data includes:
- the latest International Visitors Survey results for Victoria by campaign region and by country of origin, including visitors, nights and expenditure
- future visitation forecasts
- international tourism summaries providing the latest tourism data by market including information on visitor numbers, nights and expenditure, purpose of visit, trends, growth and market share, regional dispersal and places visited, repeat visitation and aviation share data.
International visitation
International Visitor Survey results, year ending June 2020:
Figure 1: Key international visitor highlights for Victoria
Figure 2: International overnight visitation summary results
For the year ending June 2020, key points include:
- International travel continued to be severely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with significant rates of decline recorded across all key measures as a result of the restrictions on international travel that were progressively implemented from February 2020.
- International overnight visitors to Victoria declined at a rate of 29 per cent to 2.2 million, a fall of 905,000 visitors compared to the same time last year. In the six months to June 2020, international overnight visitors to Victoria fell significantly by 61 per cent, resulting in a loss of 941,600 international visitors compared to the same period last year.
- International overnight spend in Victoria was $6.7 billion in the year ending June 2020, representing a substantial year-on-year decline of 22 per cent, while in the six months to June 2020 it declined by 46 per cent compared to the same period last year, resulting in a loss of visitor spend of over $2.1 billion. Declines in tourism spend year-on-year were noted in almost all key international markets, reflecting the impacts of progressive travel bans due to coronavirus (COVID-19). However, some moderate growth in spend was noted from Japan (+4%) due to its strong growth performance in the previous results.
- China suffered the largest fall in spend of all international markets, down $780 million to $2.4 billion from the same time last year (-24%). Victoria’s rate of decline for Chinese spend was less than the national as well as Queensland (both -28%) and New South Wales (-33%).
- International overnight visitors to Melbourne declined by 29% (down 857,900 visitors) to 2.1 million during the year ending June 2020, while spend in Melbourne decreased by 21% year-on-year to $6.3 billion (down $1.7 billion year-on-year).
- During the six months to June 2020, international overnight visitors to Melbourne declined by 61 per cent resulting in a reduction in international visitors of 888,600 compared to the same period last year. Visitor spend in Melbourne declined by 45 per cent in the six months to June 2020 compared to last year, resulting in a significant loss in spend of $1.9 billion.
- International overnight spend in regional Victoria declined significantly by 32 per cent (down $193 million) year-on-year to $407 million in the year ending June 2020, with a large decline also noted in visitors (-30% or down 177,900 visitors) to 415,900 visitors.
- During the six months to June 2020, international overnight visitors to regional Victoria* declined by 58%, resulting in a loss of an estimated 178,300 visitors compared to the same period last year, while international overnight spend in regional Victoria decreased sharply by 66% (down $212 million) in the period.
*For further information on the calculation of estimates in this IVS release, please refer to the TRA website.
Note: The International Visitor Survey (IVS) for the year ending December 2018 release included data revisions back to 2005. Please do not use/compare previously published data prior to the year ending December 2018 data release.
Next release: January 2021 (TBC)
Visit the Tourism Research Australia website
How many international travellers visit Victoria, where do they come from and how much do they spend?
- International Visitor Survey infographic year ending June 2020 (PDF 296.83 KB)
- International Visitation and Expenditure Year Ending June 2020 (XLSX 817.71 KB)
Previous releases:
- International visitation and expenditure year ending March 2020 (XLSX 803.3 KB)
- International visitation and expenditure - year ending December 2019 (XLSX 754.63 KB)
How many international travellers will visit Victoria in the future?
- Tourism Forecast 2019 - Victorian Summary (PDF 944.54 KB)
- Tourism Forecast 2019 - Victorian tables (XLSX 496.26 KB)
Visit Tourism Research Australia for more including interactive dashboards.
Want to know more about our international markets?
Tourism Australia produces a range of information on international visitation research and market intelligence including market segmentation studies, visitor profiles and aviation information.
Other international research
- The research report on Chinese Free and Independent Travellers – their potential for Regional Australia was released in March 2019 and can be found on the Tourism Research Australia website.
The report focusses on the Chinese free and independent travellers (FIT) market who are more likely to stay longer and disperse beyond Australia’s major gateway cities, compared with their non-FIT or group tour counterparts. The research assesses the barriers which inhibit greater regional dispersal and identifies areas for possible action and considers the issue of regional dispersal from both supply and demand sides.
- Research on International Education within the Visitor Economy was released in October 2018.
The research includes a profile of international education visitors, top spending origin markets, travel to Melbourne and regional Victoria, activities undertaken and forecast figures. - Research on Chinese visitors to Victoria was released in October 2018.
The research includes a profile of Chinese visitors, travel to regional Victoria, activities undertaken and forecast figures, as well as insights on Chinese-born residents living and studying in Victoria. - Research on Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) in Victoria, focusing on the Chinese and Indian markets, was released on 29 June 2017 and can be found on the Tourism Research Australia website.
The research explores the motivations, behaviours and influences of these visitors and their hosts. Insights and opportunities are included in the executive summary and infographics with a comprehensive report available upon request.
International tourism summaries
Updated bi-annually, Victoria's Top 10 International Markets Factsheet year ending December 2019 (PDF 647.66 KB) provides a snapshot of Victoria’s top international source markets in terms of visitors, nights and expenditure, along with growth and splits for Melbourne and Regional Victoria.
The below documents, updated annually, provide a summary of the latest tourism data for visitors from different international markets to Victoria.
Information includes:
- visitor numbers
- nights and expenditure
- trends, growth and market share
- purpose of visit
- regional dispersal and places visited
- repeat visitation
- related aviation shares.
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Page updated: 26 Oct 2020