3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Mar 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/05/2018   
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MEDIA RELEASE
15 May 2018
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)

Asian destinations increase in popularity for Aussies


Indonesia, China, Thailand, India and Japan all feature amongst the most popular destinations for Australian travellers, according to the latest data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Director of Migration Statistics, Myles Burleigh, said that not only were these countries amongst the most popular, many had also seen continued growth.

"Indonesia has long been a favourite destination for Australians, and more than 90,000 of us returned from short term trips to Indonesia in March. However, a number of other Asian countries are rapidly catching up. China has really grown in popularity in recent times; 47,000 Australians returned from China, up 5 per cent on last year."

"Japan is up 14 per cent on last year, and India and Vietnam both up around 11 per cent."

"Singapore however bucked the trend, down 6 per cent."

NZ remained the most popular destination overall, with 130,000 residents returning in March. However this represented a 3 per cent decline.

The US saw a decrease of 2 per cent whereas the UK was the only non-Asian destination in the top 10 up on last year, increasing by 3 per cent.

TOP 10 TRAVEL DESTINATIONS BY GROWTH FROM ONE YEAR AGO
Mar '17 to Mar '18
Original
Country of Stay(a)
Trend % change
'000
Japan
14
35.4
India
11
35.8
Vietnam
11
28.7
China
5
46.9
United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man
3
23.8
Thailand
3
42.7
Indonesia
0
90.3
United States of America
-2
62.3
New Zealand
-3
130.2
Singapore
-6
34.2
(a) Top 10 destination countries based on original estimates for Short-term Resident Returns, Australia - March 2018.


Further details can be found in Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (cat. no. 3401.0) available for download from the ABS website https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media Notes:
    · When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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