A report by Invest in Australia has revealed that the domestic tourism industry is experiencing a boom in the country. According to the study, domestic tourists have increased their overnight trips to 75.1 million. This represents growth of 6% for the year ending June 2012.
The tourism minister, Martin Ferguson, said that overnight trips and visitor nights at hotels have increased in every state and territory. Visitors tend to fly to Brisbane or other big cities more often during long holiday weekends. The Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland have all encountered an increase that is greater than 9% for all night trips and visitor nights.
Mr. Ferguson also stated that the figures are a further confirmation of a domestic tourism recovery trend. It has been visible since mid 2011 when night trips and visits began to grow. In particular, there has been a rise in the number of visits of relatives, friends and business trips.
Domestic tourism forms the backbone of the tourism industry. It provides more than 75% of the 35 billion contributed by tourism to the annual GDP of Australia.
The report also states that there was a great rise in the camping sites and free caravans used for night trips. This increase was estimated to be about 16% more than that of the preceding year.
The tourism minister said that since domestic tourism is the backbone of Australia's economy, it is always great to hear that it is flourishing. The survey also revealed that most of the domestic travelers made use of private automobiles for their night trips. This type of travel experienced a growth of 8% over the volume of the preceding year. The minister of tourism stated that, these results are very encouraging and demonstrate the domestic traveler market's value to the tourism industry in Australia.
