3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, 1997  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/07/1997   
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MEDIA RELEASE

July 21, 1997
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
108/97
Record number of overseas visitors

During June 1997, 303,700 visitors arrived in Australia, which brought the total number of overseas visitors during 1996-97 to a record 4,248,100, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This was an increase of 7 percent (281,900) over the 3,966,200 overseas visitors in 1995-96.

The ABS publication, Overseas Arrivals and Departures - Australia (3401.0), June 1997, also showed that during 1996-97, the main source countries of these visitor arrivals to Australia were Japan at 19 per cent (801,800), New Zealand at 16 per cent (676,700), the United Kingdom at 9 per cent (384,900), the United States of America at 8 per cent (321,400) and Korea at 6 per cent (250,000).

Although Japan was the major source country of visitors to Australia, the number of arrivals from Japan decreased by 1 per cent (11,700) compared with 1995-96. Taiwan decreased by 4 per cent (6,000).

All of the other top ten source countries increased in visitor numbers. Korea showed the largest increase in visitor numbers, increasing by 28 per cent (54,000), followed by Malaysia at 13 per cent (15,700), then the United Kingdom at 12 per cent (41,100), Indonesia at 12 per cent (16,900) and New Zealand at 11 percent (64,500).

The release of June1997 preliminary data, before the end of July, reflects a new arrangement by the ABS to provide data much earlier to the tourism sector.

Overseas Arrivals and Departures - Australia (cat. no. 3401.0), June 1997 is available at ABS Bookshops.