International Visitation to the Northern Territory Year ending December 2017
The following is a summary of information relevant to the Northern Territory (NT) tourism industry including visitation results from Tourism Research Australia s International Visitor Survey, overseas and arrivals information from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and airport traffic data from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. This report was prepared by the Strategic Research team in March 2018. Estimates in this report are based on survey data and therefore affected by sampling variation. The table below summarises the samples and confidence intervals (CI) for the NT. Sample size International Visitor numbers CI Visitor nights Year ending December 2017 1,875 +/-6% +/-15% Year ending December 2016 1,745 +/-6% +/-15% INTERNATIONAL VISITORS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 2017 VISITORS 293,000 NIGHTS 3.7 MILLION +2.2% -0.5% For more information on the International Visitor Survey methodology please visit Tourism Research Australia s website Disclaimer: The Department of Tourism and Culture has taken due care and skill in preparing this information, however does not warrant that it is correct or suitable for the purpose for which it is intended to be used. The Department disclaims all liability associated with the use of this information. EXPENDITURE $467 MILLION +9.9%
Summary of the International Market for the Top End and Central Australia There were 133,000 international visitors travelling to the Top End for all purposes in the YE December 2017, which represents a decline of -5.1% compared to YE December 2016. Visitor nights for the Top End were also down (-11% to 2.49 million nights) but spend went up with +5.1% to $206 million. These results were reflected in the average spend per trip going up with +11% to $1,554 and the average length of stay being shorter (down -1.2 nights to 18.8 nights). Central Australia experienced an increase in international visitation for all purposes for the YE December 2017 (up +8.6% to 211,000 visitors and up +29% to 1.2 million visitor nights). Spend was higher (up +14% to $260 million), resulting in an increase in average spend per trip (up 4.8% to $1,237). The average length of stay for Central Australia moved from 4.8 to 5.7 nights. International holiday visitation followed a similar pattern for the Top End and Central Australia as visitors for all purposes for the YE December 2017. This is mainly due to holiday visitors making up 74% of all visits to the Top End and 96% of all visits to Central Australia. While the Top End experienced a decrease in visitors numbers and nights (down -7.9% to 98,000 holiday visitors and down -22% to 1.0 million visitor nights), Central Australia experienced growth for the same metrics (up +7.6% to 203,000 holiday visitors and up +10% to 880,000 visitor nights). Holiday visitation from France, Switzerland and the United States was up for the Top End, although holiday visitors from the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands decreased. The markets with the highest growth for Central Australia were Greater China, Italy, France and Switzerland, with less holiday visitors from the United States, Germany and Japan. Please refer to the Regional Profiles on our corporate site for more information on NT regions. INTERNATIONAL VISITATION SUMMARY FOR THE TOP END All purpose of visit Year ending December 2016 2017 INTERNATIONAL VISITATION SUMMARY FOR CENTRAL AUSTRALIA Holiday 2016 2017 Visitors ('000) 140 133-5.1% 106 98-7.9% Visitor nights ('000) 2,791 2,490-11% 1,300 1,011-22% Expenditure ($ million) 196 206 5.1% Average length of stay (nights) 20.0 18.8-1.2 12.3 10.4-1.9 Average spend per trip ($) 1,403 1,554 11% Visitor market share of Australia (%) 1.8 1.6-0.2pp 2.5 2.2-0.3pp Visitor market share of the NT (%) 49 45-3.5pp 42 39-3.8pp All purpose of visit Year ending December 2016 2017 Holiday 2016 2017 Visitors ('000) 194 211 8.6% 189 203 7.6% Visitor nights ('000) 936 1,203 29% 800 880 10% Expenditure ($ million) 229 260 14% Average length of stay (nights) 4.8 5.7 0.9 4.2 4.3 0.1 Average spend per trip ($) 1,180 1,237 4.8% Visitor market share of Australia (%) 2.5 2.6 0.1pp 4.5 4.6 0.1pp Visitor market share of the NT (%) 68 72 4.3pp 76 80 4.8pp
Summary of the International Market for the Northern Territory For the NT overall, there were 293,000 international visitors who travelled to the Territory for all purposes during YE December 2017. This result was a slight increase on the previous year of +2.2%. It was caused by increases in holiday visitation (up slightly with +1.2% to 253,000 visitors) as well as international visitors travelling to visit friends or relatives (up +6.4% to 20,000 visitors) or for business purposes (up +18% to 12,000 visitors). Spend was also up +9.9% for the NT to $467 million for international visitors for all purposes compared to YE December 2016. This was partly due to the NT attracting more numbers from markets with a higher average spending such as Greater China and France. This result caused an increase in average spend per trip (up +7.5% to $1,591 for visitors for all purposes). In contrast to visitor numbers and spend, international visitor nights for all purposes to the NT were relatively steady (down -0.5% to 3.7 million nights). All jurisdictions with exception of Western Australia experienced an increase in international visitor numbers for all purposes for YE December 2017. While the NT experienced slight growth for international visitors for all purposes (+2.2%), this was still below the national average or +6.5% with Tasmania, the ACT and Victoria the strongest contributors to this percentage growth. Accordingly, the Territory s market share dropped by -0.2 percentage points (pp) to 3.6% for international visitors for all purposes. Key results from the NT holiday market: The NT received 253,000 international holiday travellers (up +1.2%), spending $357 million (up +9.1%) and staying approximately 1.9 million visitor nights (down -9.8%). The key performing holiday markets for the NT for YE December 2017 were Greater China (up +24% or an extra 3,000 holiday visitors), France (up +22% or 2,500 visitors), Scandinavia (up +21% or 1,500 visitors) and Italy (up +15% or 1,500 visitors). The largest decline came from Germany (down -14% or 4,500 less visitors) and the United Kingdom (down -13% or 5,500 visitors). INTERNATIONAL VISITATION SUMMARY FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY All purpose of visit Year ending December 2016 2017 Holiday 2016 2017 Visitors ('000) 287 293 2.2% 250 253 1.2% Visitor nights ('000) 3,728 3,708-0.5% 2,099 1,894-9.8% Expenditure ($ million) 425 467 9.9% 327 357 9.1% Average length of stay (nights) 13.0 12.6-0.3 8.4 7.5-0.9 Average spend per trip ($) 1,480 1,591 7.5% 1,309 1,411 7.8% Visitor market share (%) 3.8 3.6-0.2pp 5.9 5.7-0.2pp
INTERNATIONAL VISITATION TRENDS TO THE NT INTERNATIONAL VISITOR AVERAGE LENGTH OF STAY TREND TO THE NT INTERNATIONAL VISITOR EXPENDITURE TRENDS TO THE NT HOLIDAY VISITATION BY NT OVERSEAS MARKETS Note: All other purpose includes business, visiting friends and relatives, employment, education, other reasons, transit and not asked.
INTERNATIONAL VISITORS BY KEY SOURCE MARKETS TO THE NT AND AUSTRALIA (ALL PURPOSE OF VISIT) Country of residence Rank YE Dec 16 ('000) AAGR: Average Annual Growth Rate Greater China: includes Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China Northern Territory YE Dec 17 % ('000) 3 Year AAGR Market share Rank YE Dec 16 ('000) Australia YE Dec 17 ('000) % United States of America 1 45.6 47.5 4.0% 0.1% 6.5% 3 668.4 729.0 9.1% 8.3% United Kingdom 2 43.4 40.7-6.0% -3.0% 5.9% 4 673.8 689.1 2.3% 2.0% Germany 3 34.1 28.9-15% -1.3% 14% 6 195.6 200.4 2.5% 3.1% Japan 4 22.1 21.9-0.8% -0.8% 5.5% 5 382.1 397.9 4.1% 8.8% Greater China 5 14.8 17.8 20% 12% 1.1% 1 1,497.1 1,676.6 12% 10% France 6 13.3 16.2 21% -5.6% 13% 8 117.1 121.5 3.8% 2.2% Italy 7 10.9 12.6 16% 3.7% 18% 10 72.9 71.8-1.5% 0.8% New Zealand 8 17.1 11.8-31% -11% 1.0% 2 1,221.2 1,231.1 0.8% 1.2% Scandinavia 9 8.3 10.0 21% 14.7% 9.5% 9 101.5 105.5 3.9% 3.1% Switzerland 10 9.1 9.5 4.6% 1.1% 18% 11 51.2 53.0 3.6% 0.9% Canada 11 9.6 8.3-13% -2.9% 5.2% 7 142.5 157.9 11% 5.6% Netherlands 12 7.1 6.9-1.8% -0.2% 13% 12 49.6 52.8 6.6% 5.7% Other Europe 22.8 21.6-5.1% 4.5% 9.3% 225.7 231.5 2.6% 3.3% Other Asia 19.9 28.4 43% 6.4% 1.5% 1,756.9 1,895.2 7.9% 7.6% Other Countries 9.2 11.3 22% 8.8% 2.2% 469.1 505.6 7.8% 4.8% Total 287.2 293.4 2.2% 0.7% 3.6% 7,624.7 8,118.8 6.5% 5.8% 3 Year AAGR PURPOSE OF VISITING THE NT LEISURE^ VISITOR DISPERSAL TO NT REGIONS YE Dec 16 YE Dec 17 % of NT NT Regions % ('000) ('000) visitors Top End 119 112-6.0% 41% Greater Darwin 112 107-4.4% 40% Kakadu Arnhem 36 30-16% 11% Katherine Daly 41 35-16% 13% Central Australia 190 206 8.0% 77% Alice Springs - MacDonnell 109 126 15% 47% Barkly 17 17 0.9% 6.2% Lasseter 157 169 7.3% 63% ^ Leisure travel includes holiday and visiting friends and relatives
AGE GROUPS NT LEISURE^ TRAVELLERS HOLIDAY SOURCE MARKET SUMMARY *Caution required when interpreting results due to low sample (<40) INTERNATIONAL MARKETS TO THE NT KEY STATS YE Dec 2017 Nights ('000) Expenditu re ($M) ALOS (nights) Average spend per visitor ($) Average spend per night ($) % repeat leisure^ to Australia % on a holiday United States of America 413 79 8.7 1,660 191 24% 84% United Kingdom 351 54 8.6 1,324 153 45% 87% Germany 288 39 10.0 1,361 137 37% 97% Japan 188 26 8.6 1,170 136 40% 90% Greater China 223 34 12.5 1,909 152 48% 90% New Zealand 120 18 10.1 1,563 154 93% 69% France 313 32 19.3 2,007 104 26% 93% Italy 114 17 9.1 1,330 147 17% 98% Canada 102 14 12.3 1,635 133 15% 94% Scandinavia 83 15 8.2 1,447 176 28% 95% Switzerland 78 20 8.2 2,150 262 37% 99% Netherlands 66 10 9.6 1,475 154 32% 92% ALOS - Average length of stay ^ Leisure travel includes holiday and visiting friends and relatives 15-29 years 30-39 years 40-49 years 50-64 years 65+ years
Passenger numbers MONTHLY MOVEMENT THROUGH THE DARWIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT International Visitor Numbers and Spend by State Excerpt from TRA s International Visitor Survey Summary 20,000 Source: Department of Immigration and Border Protection TRAFFIC ON BOARD INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES Darwin International Inbound Revenue Passenger 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2016 14,691 9,106 8,824 9,808 10,481 10,734 15,791 12,553 11,777 12,234 9,560 8,924 2017 17,466 10,799 9,524 11,407 10,377 11,386 14,671 11,606 11,525 11,258 9,446 Source: Bureau of infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics City of arrival for international leisure visitors to the Northern Territory 13% of leisure visitors to the Northern Territory entered Australia through the Darwin International Airport