Great Ocean Road helping drive Victoria tourism boom

ONE million international tourists flocked to the Great Ocean Road last year as Victoria outpaced the rest of the country as a must-see destination.

ONE million international tourists flocked to the Great Ocean Road last year as Victoria outpaced the rest of the country as a must-see destination.

Foreign visitors to the state increased 9 per cent — higher than the national average — and they spent $8 billion.

New figures from Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey show visitors stayed for 68 million nights in the state in the year to March — an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year.

Overall tourism, including both international and domestic, contributed $24.8 billion to total gross state product in 2016-17, employing 214,500 workers.

While Sydney remains Australia’s No. 1 tourist destination — with three million visiting the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Victoria’s growth in new visitors was second only to the booming Tasmania.

Almost two million shopped in Melbourne's city centre, with 1.4 million checking out the Queen Victoria Market, 640,000 visiting Crown Casino and 510,000 the Melbourne Museum.

Nights spent in rented houses, apartments, flats and units increased 7 per cent to 30 million, with a further 22 million nights spent in the home of a friend or relative.

Chinese tourists numbered 645,000 — up 13 per cent — and spent $3 billion while visitors from India (up 29 per cent to 155,000), Japan (up 25 per cent to 79,000) and Indonesia (up 15 per cent to 73,000) continued to grow.

Nationwide spending by tourists — both international and domestic — has soared to a record $107.4 billion — a 6 per cent increase from the previous year. More than 8 million foreign tourists stayed for 269 million nights and spent $42.3 billion.

Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said the federal government has already started to develop the next national tourism strategy to ensure the tourism industry keeps growing.

“With almost one million Australians employed in the tourism industry, attracting more tourists to Australia is part of the plan for a stronger economy,” Mr Ciobo said. “These results show tourism’s status in the Victorian economy and its potential as a super growth sector for the state.”