Three million international visitors stayed 68 million nights and spent $8b in Victoria last year

THREE million international tourists flocked to Melbourne last year as Victoria outpaced the rest of the country as a must-see destination.

THREE million international tourists flocked to Melbourne 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 spent $8 billion.

Figures from Tourism ­Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey show visitors stayed 68 million nights in the state in the year to March — a jump of 2 per cent on the previous year.

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Overall tourism, 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 3 million visiting the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Victoria’s growth in new visitors was second only to the booming Tasmania.

During the year, the Great Ocean Road attracted 1 million international visitors — an increase of 10 per cent, while 512,000 visitors went to Phillip Island, 388,000 to the Yarra Valley and 176,000 to Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill.

Jewell Toh and Amanda Lim, from Singapore, at the Twelve Apostles. Picture: Alex Coppel

Almost 2 million people shopped in the city centre, with 1.4 million checking out Queen Victoria Market, 640,000 visiting Crown cas­ino and 510,000 going to 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 — soared to a record $107.4 billion — a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.

Shahria Mahbub, from Sydney, with his extended family from Bangladesh, visit the Twelve Apostles. Picture: Alex Coppel

More than 8 million foreign tourists stayed a total of 269 million nights and spent $42.3 billion nationwide.

Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said the federal government had already started to develop the next national tourism strategy to ensure the industry kept growing and creating jobs.

“These results show tourism’s status in the Victorian economy and its potential as a super growth sector for the state,” he said.

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