The tourism industry is banking on an Ashes cricket invasion in summer to offset a slump due to the World Cup being held in Germany.

A woman and a child cycle past a mural depicting the Brazilian soccer team on a wall in Berlin June 19, 2006.[Reuters]

Tourism Australia managing director Scott Morrison said today overseas arrival figures would sag in the second half of 2006.

"We can expect the World Cup in Germany to suppress global demand for travel," he said.

"There will be those, particularly in Europe, who would have planned a big trip and would have decided this year it would be the World Cup.

"So I think you could expect some suppression of visitation largely around and after the World Cup."

Mr Morrison said the industry would be looking to an estimated 30,000 English cricket supporters to provide a tourism boost during the Ashes series in summer.

"There is phenomenal interest over the Ashes," he said.

"These events have a massive impact because people are coming and spending, going out, going to restaurants, riding in cabs and spending a lot of money.

"The Ashes tour runs for an incredibly long period of time and it really opens up opportunities to get people to go out and do other things here."

Mr Morrison said Tourism Australia next month would launch an 'Ashes planning tool' on its website, Australia.com, to help visitors plan their itineraries around the Test matches.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1.38 million Europeans visited Australia last year, with the summer the most popular period.

Britain, with more than 708,300 visitors, is overall Australia's second most important market while Germany with 146,400 arrivals was the most important continental market.