4 April, 2018

Tourism and events brings more jobs than ever to Victoria

Tourism’s contribution to Victoria’s economy continues to rise, with visitor expenditure reaching $26.4 billion in the year ending December 2017 and employment numbers growing to new heights.

The 2016/17 State Tourism Satellite Accounts (STSA) data released today show that tourism is a job creator for Victoria.

More than 15,000 jobs have been created since 2015/16 in Victoria with the latest STSA statistics showing that the industry employs 214,500 people employed, making up 6.9 per cent of the state’s total employment.

The growth of our tourism industry is also reflected in the latest National (NVS) and International Visitor Survey (IVS) results for the year ending December 2017.

Released last week, the December NVS results showed strong growth for Victoria in spend, visitors and nights, above key competitors and national averages.

Double-digit growth of 11.7 per cent was recorded in domestic overnight expenditure to reach $13.6 billion.

Total domestic overnight visitors to and within Victoria also performed strongly with a double-digit increase of 11.5 per cent to 24.5 million.

The strong growth for Victoria was a result of increases in both the intrastate market (+12.1 per cent to 16.8 million visitors) and interstate (+10.3 per cent to 7.6 million visitors) markets.

Interstate overnight visitors to Melbourne accounted for $4.4 billion in expenditure, 5.8 million visitors and 18.6 million nights.

Regional Victoria recorded a 15 per cent increase in spend to $5.9 billion, a 14.4 per cent increase in visitors to 16.0 million) and 12.7 per cent increase in nights to 45.0 million.

The positive State Tourism Satellite Accounts and NVS data have followed on from the mid-March IVS year ending December 2017 data release.

The IVS data showed that Victoria experienced double digit growth on visitor expenditure to reach a record high of $7.7 billion and 66.2 million international visitor nights.

From Wander Victoria, which encouraged Melbournians to get out into the regions, to A Twist At Every Turn, Victoria’s major interstate campaign and the recently launched China campaign with Li Xian, Visit Victoria is marketing the state like never before.

Visit Victoria Chief Executive Officer Peter Bingeman said that the growth of Victoria’s visitor economy was a testament to the hard-working industry and tourism operators who ensure that this state offers some of the best accommodation, food and lifestyle experiences in the country.

“Visitation to Victoria is at an all-time high, however there is still significant potential to further grow and strengthen our visitor economy, which is exactly what Visit Victoria is doing – We’re securing major events and supporting regional ones, and marketing the state to key intrastate, interstate, and international markets.”

“The depth and breadth of offerings in Victoria are unmatched in this country. We are one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, and that has not happened by chance.”

Visit Victoria has played a vital part in delivering economic success to Victoria, ensuring the tourism and major events sector is sustained and that the industry’s role as a major employer, particularly of young people, continues.

Visit Victoria’s aim is to become Australia’s number one visitor destination and generate $36.5 billion in visitor spend by 2025, supporting more than 320,000 jobs.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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