SYDNEY, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — The Chinese market is very important to Australia’s tourism industry and its recovery is very strong, the new chief of the Australian government’s tourism promotion agency has said.
“The Chinese market is so important to Australia, and we really welcome all the Chinese visitors who come across to see us,” Robin Mack, who was appointed as Tourism Australia’s new managing director in January, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Citing the latest official data, Mack said that in the 12 months ending in November last year, about 1 million Chinese visitors traveled to Australia, up 16 percent year-on-year, making China the fastest-growing market at present.
In terms of spending, Chinese visitors spent 12.3 billion Australian dollars (about 8.71 billion U.S. dollars) in Australia, a 29 percent year-on-year increase, which has essentially returned to pre-pandemic levels, he said.
“So the recovery is very strong for us,” Mack said. “It’s actually returned to our number two inbound market in terms of visitation and number one in terms of overall spend.”
Source/ Belt and Road Portal