Aussie food: The secret recipe Australia needs to win Chinese tourists' hearts - and billions of dollars

FORGET fried rice, give us a Vegemite sandwich! New research finds Aussie tucker is the key to Chinese tourist billions.

AUSTRALIA needs to bring out its big guns to lure the world's most lucrative tourist market: Vegemite sandwiches, pavlova and lamingtons.

Chinese tourists reckon Aussies do Chinese food badly, so they just want to eat Aussie food when they visit.

The research suggests Chinese tourists would rather tuck into a lamington than lemon chicken.

Eager to satisfy the needs of the $4.4 billion Chinese tourism market, Australian tour operators have mistakenly been offering too much Chinese food, a new study has found.

And the Chinese food being offered is decidedly average, a survey of more than 3600 visitors revealed. Less than one in three tourists rated Australia's Chinese food as high quality.

Instead, Aussies would much be better off chucking another shrimp on the barbie and offering local tucker, with the Tourism Research Australia report urging tourism operators to "increase opportunities for consuming Western food during the trip".

For brekky, Chinese tourists are after a more diverse offering than just Vegemite toast.

"There is a positive association between regular consumption of Western food and having a trip better than expected," the report said.

Except, that is, at breakfast time.

When it comes to the morning meal, the report recommends increasing the Chinese food options available to visitors. Think less Coco Pops, more congee; less peanut butter toast and more pork buns.

The food was not the biggest turn-off for Chinese tourists though. Aussie shopping got the lowest rating, with only 50 per cent of tourists saying they were satisfied.

Steamed buns are among the Chinese foods that are often eaten at breakfast.

Shop opening hours were the top complaint that led tourists to say they wouldn't recommend visiting Australia.

Overall, however, the report found 90 per cent of Chinese visitors were satisfied with their trip to Australia and 83 per cent said their trip met or exceeded expectations.

"It means the majority of Chinese visitors are likely to recommend Australia as a holiday destination to their family and friends," Tourism Research Australia chief economist Dr Leo Jago said.

"These visitors make an important contribution to our economy. China is Australia's fastest growing inbound tourism market and tourists from China are the largest spenders in Australia."

By 2022−23, the number of Chinese visitors is forecast to increase from 685,000 to 1.4 million and their tourism expenditure from $4.4 billion to $8.2 billion.

Australia's limited shopping hours is the top complaint among Chinese visitors.