1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/01/2006   
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Contents >> Chapter 21 - Tourism >> Visitor travel in Australia

VISITOR TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA

DAY VISITORS

Day visitors (or same-day visitors) are those who travel for a round trip distance of at least 50 kilometres, are away from home for at least four hours, and who do not spend a night away from home as part of their travel. Same-day travel as part of overnight travel is excluded, as is routine travel such as commuting between work/school and home.

During the year ended 31 December 2004, there were 129.6 million same-day trips taken in Australia by Australian residents aged 15 years and over, down 6.8% from the 139.1 million day trips recorded for the corresponding period in 2003 (table 21.11).


21.11 DAY VISITORS(a), By state/territory visited
Destination
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.(b)
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
2001
50,676
38,582
25,735
11,177
12,288
4,863
768
1,920
146,008
2002
50,410
35,945
24,707
10,519
12,902
4,514
1,027
2,108
142,133
2003
44,988
36,499
27,250
10,546
12,135
4,705
1,049
1,888
139,060
2004
40,505
30,655
30,938
9,735
11,448
3,958
908
1,422
129,568
(a) Australian residents aged 15 years and over.
(b) Components may not add to total as total includes unspecified and offshore visits that could not be allocated to a state or territory.

Source: Tourism Research Australia, 'Travel by Australians', December quarter 2004.


New South Wales received the most day visitors (31%), followed by Victoria and Queensland (each with 24%). The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory each accounted for 1% of day visitors (table 21.12).

Holiday/leisure accounted for 52% of same-day trips, while 29% involved visiting friends and/or relatives and 9% involved travel mainly for business.


21.12 DAY VISITORS(a), By state/territory visited and main purpose of visit - 2004
Holiday/leisure
Visiting
friends/relatives
Business
Other
Total
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
New South Wales
20,913
31
11,647
31
3,524
30
4,421
33
40,505
31
Victoria
15,307
23
9,498
25
2,727
23
3,122
23
30,655
24
Queensland
16,606
25
8,245
22
2,924
25
3,164
24
30,938
24
South Australia
5,299
8
2,884
8
708
6
844
6
9,735
8
Western Australia
5,428
8
3,867
10
1,093
9
1,061
8
11,448
9
Tasmania
2,084
3
987
3
362
3
525
4
3,958
3
Northern Territory
584
1
*132
*0
*84
*1
*108
*1
908
1
Australian Capital Territory
694
1
256
1
255
2
217
2
1,422
1
Australia(b)
66,915
100
37,516
100
11,677
100
13,460
100
129,568
100
* Subject to sampling variability too high for practical purposes.
(a) Australian residents aged 15 years and over.
(b) Components may not add to total as total includes unspecified and offshore visits that could not be allocated to a state or territory.

Source: Tourism Research Australia, 'Travel by Australians', December quarter 2004.

VISITOR NIGHTS

Overnight travel involves a stay away from home for at least one night, at a place at least 40 kilometres from home. A person is an overnight visitor to a location if they stay one or more nights in the location while travelling.

Domestic visitor nights refers to the number of nights Australian residents aged 15 years and over spent away from home in association with individual visits.
Australian residents aged 15 years and over spent 296.9 million nights away from home during the year ended 31 December 2004 (table 21.13). This was 1% higher than the 294.1 million nights away recorded for the corresponding period in 2003. New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory all recorded increases in the number of domestic visitor nights in 2004, while the number of domestic visitor nights declined in Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.


21.13 VISITOR NIGHTS(a), By state/territory visited
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.(b)
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
’000
2001
89,447
55,747
75,002
19,508
28,068
7,970
7,174
5,749
289,644
2002
93,269
56,684
76,342
20,424
29,748
8,775
7,518
5,382
298,658
2003
88,188
54,892
78,839
21,146
29,997
9,647
6,141
5,235
294,112
2004
89,179
54,872
78,196
21,680
31,002
10,263
6,522
5,107
296,877
(a) Australian residents aged 15 years and over.
(b) Total includes unspecified and offshore visits that could not be allocated to a state or territory.

Source: Tourism Research Australia, 'Travel by Australians', December quarter 2004.


In 2004, New South Wales received the most visitor nights with 30%, followed by Queensland (26%) and Victoria (18%) (table 21.14). The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory each accounted for 2% of visitor nights. Overnight travellers who had holiday or leisure as their main purpose of visit contributed 45% of domestic visitor nights, followed by those visiting friends and/or relatives (34%) and business (14%).


21.14 VISITOR NIGHTS(a), By state/territory visited and main purpose of visit - 2004
Holiday/leisure
Visiting
friends/relatives
Business
Other
Total(b)
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
’000
%
New South Wales
38,574
29
34,022
33
11,572
28
4,212
33
89,179
30
Victoria
25,284
19
19,803
19
7,120
17
2,241
18
54,872
18
Queensland
39,110
29
24,758
24
9,706
23
2,895
23
78,196
26
South Australia
8,882
7
7,337
7
3,638
9
1,139
9
21,680
7
Western Australia
13,534
10
8,195
8
6,001
14
1,440
11
31,002
10
Tasmania
5,029
4
3,474
3
1,286
3
*264
*2
10,263
3
Northern Territory
2,612
2
1,780
2
1,410
3
*121
*1
6,522
2
Australian Capital Territory
1,188
1
2,529
2
1,045
3
*340
*3
5,107
2
Australia(c)
134,257
100
101,898
100
41,790
100
12,652
100
296,877
100
* Subject to sampling variability too high for practical purposes.
(a) Australian residents aged 15 years and over.
(b) Includes visitor nights where purpose of visit was not stated.
(c) Components may not add to total as total includes unspecified and offshore visits that could not be allocated to a state or territory.

Source: Tourism Research Australia, 'Travel by Australians', December quarter 2004.



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