Tourism Visitor Numbers

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update the council about the latest release of international and national visitor statistics?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:00): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am pleased to announce that the South Australian tourism sector has again smashed records, with an all-time high of $7.6 billion spent by visitors to our state over the past year—I repeat that: $7.6 billion spent by visitors to our state over the past year. That means that the total growth is up 12 per cent from last year, and I do not know how to tell you how pleased I am about this great news. It is a fantastic result for local businesses, jobs and the economy.

The more tourists we attract to South Australia, the more people we have eating in our restaurants, staying in our hotels and visiting our tourist attractions. It is also great news for our regions, with interstate and overnight visitation to regional South Australia increasing by 10 per cent: 1.1 million people visited our regions and stayed overnight over the past year, and I am extremely pleased that more and more people are getting to experience all that our regions have to offer.

Interstate expenditure overall increased by a massive 21 per cent, coming in at $2.5 billion. Additionally, more South Australians are getting out and about in their own state for a holiday. South Aussies spent $2.3 billion on a record high $3.5 million intrastate overnight visits. It goes to show that you do not need to go to the other side of the world to have a world-class tourism experience.

Looking at our international visitors, once again China has been our biggest source of tourists: we saw a record high of some 66,500, which is up 19 per cent. Additionally, we welcomed a 6 per cent increase in Japanese tourists this year. These visitors spent more and on longer trips with nights up 143 per cent and expenditure up 78 per cent. Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work of the South Australian regional tourism operators. This fantastic result is validation of all their efforts.

The South Australian visitor economy employs some 38,900 people across 18,000 businesses, including accommodation providers, tourism experiences, tours, food and beverages and more. Furthermore, the tourism industry benefits local industry too, with cafes, shops and restaurants, just to name a few, experiencing the benefits. Our government works closely with the local tourism operators to constantly explore new ideas and opportunities to ensure that we are at the forefront of the visitor economy.

We want to ensure that South Australia continues to be recognised as a world-class tourism destination, with the kind of locations, events and experiences that put our state on the map. It is an exciting time for all of us, and South Australia is clearly on track to achieve its original goal of an $8 billion visitor economy by the end of 2020, and we are working very hard towards the $12.8 billion visitor economy by 2030. Once again, I thank and congratulate all of those in the tourism sector involved in hitting this record high.