International visitor numbers are up for the Whitsundays

International visitor numbers for the Whitsundays are looking good with five of the region’s seven top source markets up when compared with last year.

The figures, released on Tuesday December 12th, show that overall, the number of international visitors to the Whitsundays was up by 8.2 per cent year-on-year for the 12 months ending September 30, 2017, at 247,000 visitors.

Of these 247,000 visitors, 238,000 were on holiday, and this figure is also up year-on-year, by 7.9 per cent.

Five of the Whitsundays’ top seven overseas source markets were up when compared to the same 12-month period last year.

The Whitsundays’ number one market is the UK and this was up 11.5 per cent, with 55,000 visitors. The second largest market, Germany, was up 14.9 per cent, with 37,000 visitors, and the third largest market is China, which increased by 14 per cent year-on-year, to 22,000 visitors.

Scandinavia was also up, by 14.6 per cent (13,000 visitors) and France was up by 39.6 per cent (12,000 visitors). The USA was down (by 14 per cent) and so too was New Zealand (down 4.6 per cent).

Tourism Whitsundays CEO Craig Turner said the figures were very encouraging, especially given it had been a challenging 12 months for the industry.

“With the overall figure for international holidaymakers up by 7.9 per cent and five of our top source markets up, I am very pleased with these latest figures, especially after it has been such a challenging year for our tourism operators,” he said.

“Everyone should take heart from these figures as they show we are definitely going in the right direction when it comes to international visitation to our region.

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