Asia-Pacific remains Australian’s favourite destination
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Date: February 11, 2011
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Prudence McKendry
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Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal Asia-Pacific nations as the preferred destinations for Australian travellers. Indonesia has overtaken the United States and the United Kingdom to take second place at 10.4 per cent. Indonesia bounced back as one of the most popular destinations despite the drop to 6.7 per cent of total visits after the second bombings in Bali in October 2005. New Zealand has remained the top destination for Australians over the last decade with 15 per cent of the total in 2010. Thailand, China, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong round out the top ten travel destinations. In 2010 a record 7.1 million Australian residents travelled overseas. This is up from 6.3 million in December 2009 and 3.5 million in 2000. The sustained boost in resident travel overseas can be attributed to in part the Global Financial Crisis and the consequent high Australian dollar, cheaper airfares and the Australian Governments stimulus packages from late 2008. The study also revealed New South Wales as the preferred tourist destination within Australia with 38 per cent of visitors. This is a decrease from 43 per cent of total visitors to Australia in 2000. The other state/territory shares were Queensland with 25 per cent, Victoria 21 per cent, Western Australia 10 per cent, South Australia 3 per cent; and Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory 1 per cent each. Victoria increased significantly from 15 per cent of total visitors to Australia in 2000.
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