Canberrans knew it all along but it’s official; the national capital is the travel destination of choice amongst domestic visitors, according to the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia.
It’s not a race but if it were, we’d win. For the year ending March 2023, the ACT experienced the biggest growth in domestic visits, overnight stays and expenditure out of all Australian states and territories.
This puts us at 99 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Take that, Covid.
For all you statisticians out there, here are some tantalising numbers: the ACT welcomed 5.57 million visitors for the year ending March 2023. Of these, 5.4 million were domestic visitors (3.2 million overnight and 2.2 million day-trippers) and 130,000 international tourists.
Not that those with a 2600 postcode need to ask, but why are so many domestic travellers heading to our fair city?
The majority are visiting you. To clarify, 40 per cent of international visitors and 36 per cent of domestic overnight visitors are visiting friends and relatives. We are, indeed, the favourite child and bestie.
For the day-trippers, half of them came for a holiday and the other half nominated “other”. Whatever that is, we’ll take that as a compliment.
After visiting friends and relatives, the second most popular reason to visit us (40 per cent international, 28 per cent domestic overnight) was for a holiday. We sure know how to relax – the only noise pollution is the sulphur crested cockatoo and the heaviest peak-hour traffic are the pigeons in Garema Place at midday.
Business trips rated highly, and these 29 per cent of domestic overnight visitors were a massive increase of 185 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.
Sydneysiders made up the highest number of overnight stays (37 per cent) and we sincerely hope they enjoyed our country town. Regional NSW were our biggest portion of day-trippers and we really hope they enjoyed our bustling city.
This latest official research contradicts findings of a travel insurance company survey released last week, that ranked the ACT as the least appealing winter destination for domestic travellers.
