Domestic tourism March 2021
Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to have an impact on Australia’s domestic tourism market. Improvement seen in recent months for domestic travel continued in March.
- March 2021 saw the smallest monthly declines in overnight spend since the start of the pandemic.
- Intrastate travel continued to lead the recovery of domestic overnight tourism from the lows of April and May 2020. Australians took 6.2 million intrastate overnight trips (up 15% on February 2021), spending $3.3 billion (up 20% on February).
- March saw continued improvement in the interstate market. Australians took 2.2 million interstate trips (up 55% on February) and spent $2.8 billion (double the $1.4 billion in February). These were the strongest interstate results since the start of the pandemic.
Overnight trips and spend
Australians took 8.4 million overnight trips in March 2021. They stayed 28.9 million nights and spent $6.0 billion.
Compared to a COVID-19 affected March 2020, this was a:
- 37% increase in overnight trips
- 35% increase in nights stayed
- 58% increase in spend.
Compared to pre-COVID March 2019, this was a:
- 16% fall in overnight trips
- 5% fall in nights stayed
- 6% fall in spend.
Domestic day trips
Australians took 15.6 million day trips and spent $1.8 billion in March 2021.
Compared to a COVID-19 affected March 2020, this was a:
- 25% increase in day trips
- 35% increase in spend.
Compared to pre-COVID March 2019, this was a:
- 27% fall in day trips
- 17% fall in spend.
Hover on line over relevant month to show total figures.
The trip rate for May 2021 tells us 29.0% of NVS respondents interviewed in weeks 1, 2 and 3 reported taking one or more overnight trips in the preceding 28 days (the reference period). The return date will have been in April for some of these trips.
The trip estimate of 8.4 million for the month of March refers to overnight trips returned from in that month.
Regional visitors and spend March 2021
Regional areas continue to fare better than capital cities.
Australians took 3.1 million overnight trips to capital cities and spent $2.4 billion in March 2021.
Compared to a COVID-19 affected March 2020, this was a:
- 35% increase in overnight trips
- 33% increase in spend.
Compared to pre-COVID March 2019, this was a:
- 26% fall in overnight trips
- 27% fall in spend.
Australians took more overnight trips (5.6 million) to regional Australia and spent $3.6 million in March 2021.
Compared to a COVID-19 affected March 2020, this was a:
- 39% increase in overnight trips
- 81% increase in spend.
Compared to pre-COVID March 2019, this was a:
- 9% fall in overnight trips
- 16% increase in spend.
The increased spend for regional areas (compared to March 2019) was spread across most states. This was due mainly to the self-drive holiday market. These increases were strongest in:
- regional South Australia – spend up 70%
- regional New South Wales – spend up 24%
- regional Western Australia – spend up 21%.
National Visitor Survey results monthly data tables
NVS results monthly data tables
Monthly data for overnight and day travel by state and territory
https://www.tra.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/185/NationalVisitorSurvey(NVS)MonthlyDomesticOvernightVisitationMarch2021.xlsx.aspx
Monthly data for overnight and day travel by state and territory as compared to March 2019
https://www.tra.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/185/NationalVisitorSurvey(NVS)MonthlyDomesticOvernightVisitationMarch2021_2019comparison.xlsx.aspx
Contact us
Email tourism.research@tra.gov.au