Australian tourism chief expecting further rise in Chinese visitor numbers

The head of Australia's leading tourism promotion body has said she expects China to resume its position as the leading provider of tourists for her country in the near future.

The number of Chinese travelers arriving in Australia was almost 950,000 between June 2024 and May 2025, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent, making China the fastest-growing international source market for Australia's inbound tourism, according to Phillipa Harrison, managing director of Tourism Australia.

Harrison, who was in Shanghai as Tourism Australia launched the second chapter of its "Come and say G'day" campaign on Thursday, said, "China is currently our second-largest market regarding inbound travel arrivals.

"The only market that has more visitors is New Zealand, our very close neighbor. So China is a big market with huge potential, and we are confident to see it continuing to grow over the next period of time."

Harrison said that while China became the number one provider of inbound foreign tourists for Australia in 2018 and 2019, with around 1.4 million travelers arriving annually, the number decreased after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Inbound travel from China hasn't returned to its full strength yet," she added.

One trend the Australian tourism authority has noticed among Chinese tourists in recent times is that, instead of simply sightseeing in the cities, they are now travelling all over the country.

"Chinese travelers are now going outside of the cities as well. They hire cars and go into much more regional areas. That's the case even for first-time visitors," said Harrison.

"Also, with the number of travelers in their 20s increasing, we see these younger individuals seeking more adventure-based programs. They go out to the mountains, go diving and go hiking, among other activities, which also makes their stay in the country slightly longer than before."

Data from the online travel agency Trip showed that Australia was the number one long-haul outbound destination for Chinese travelers during this year's Chinese New Year holiday, as well as being the most popular destination in the Southern Hemisphere for Chinese travelers throughout 2024.