In the year to March 2026, 8.47 million international visitors arrived in Australia, roughly 99.3 per cent of the 8.5 million travellers that visited in the year to March 2019.
The March 2026 numbers are also a 10 per cent increase on international visitors from a year ago.
Spend in Australia by international visitors likewise rose substantially compared to a year ago, with spend now at $40.9 billion, up 20 per cent on March 2025.
Nights spent in Australia by international visitors were up nine per cent to 321.9 million.
Business travel, which includes travel for business events, was up slightly – by one per cent, in the year to March, compared to 2024. This is an improvement from the previous statistics release, which showed that business travel was down by three per cent when comparing the 2025 calendar year to 2024. However, business travel levels remain significantly lower in 2026 compared to pre-COVID, currently sitting at 76 per cent of March 2019 levels.
New Zealand, China, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and India continue to be Australia’s top international visitor source markets in terms of number of visitors, while Chinese visitors remain the largest spenders, accounting for 29 per cent of all international visitor spend in Australia. Visitors from China increased their spend again in the year to March compared to the year prior, with spend up by 30 per cent amongst Mainland China travellers.
International visitors to individual states and territories for the year to March were up in every region except the Australian Capital Territory. Western Australia recorded the largest proportional rise, at 20 per cent, followed by the Northern Territory where international visitors increased by 16 per cent.
Tasmania saw the biggest increase in international visitor spend, up 36 per cent year on year, closely followed by Queensland which saw a 35 per cent increase in spend.
