Domestic tourism November 2021
Our monthly snapshots make it easier to monitor changes in Australian tourism activity. You can view results each month or quarterly.
We usually compare data with the same month in the previous year. In this report, we look at figures from 2019 to see the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overnight spend
$4.5 billion | Down 30% on November 2019
Overnight trips
7.2 million | Down 25% on November 2019
Nights spend on trip
24.1 million | Down 26% on November 2019
Key results
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Australia’s domestic tourism market.
November saw some improvement in overall results compared to October 2021. This was due to an end to lockdowns and easing of restrictions across New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
In November 2021:
- there were 7.2 million overnight trips, down 25% on November 2019
- spend was down 30% ($2 billion) to $4.5 billion
- spend declined most in the Northern Territory (NT), Tasmania (Tas) and Vic. Spend in:
- NT was down 67% to $65 million
- Tas was down 46% to $119 million
- Vic was down 43% to $829 million.
- Early data shows domestic travel results will continue to improve during the December and January holiday season. This is due to continued easing of restrictions and state borders opening.
The trip rate for February 2022 tells us 24.15% of NVS respondents interviewed in weeks 1 and 2 reported taking one or more overnight trips in the preceding 28 days (the reference period). The return date will have been in January for some of these trips.
The trip estimate of 7.2 million for the month of November refers to overnight trips returned from in that month.
Overnight trips and spend
In November 2021, Australians:
- took 7.2 million overnight trips
- spent $4.5 billion
- stayed 24.1 million nights.
Compared to a pre-COVID November 2019, this was a:
- 25% fall in overnight trips
- 30% fall in spend
- 26% fall in nights stayed.
Interstate and intrastate visitors and spend
Interstate travel
Interstate travel was still heavily reduced due to border restrictions in some states. In November 2021, Australians:
- took 890,000 interstate overnight trips, down 73% on November 2019
- spent $1 billion, down 73% ($2.7 billion) on November 2019.
Intrastate travel
Intrastate results were improved on a pre-pandemic November 2019. This was due to strong results in Tas (up 67%), WA (up 14%) and Queensland (up 3%). In November 2021, Australians:
- took 6.3 million intrastate overnight trips, up 1% on November 2019
- spent $3.5 billion, an increase of 27% on November 2019
- contributed 77% to total spend, up from 42% in November 2019.
Since the start of the pandemic, 92% of the loss in domestic overnight tourism was due to losses in interstate travel.
Regional and capital city visitors and spend
Regional areas continued to fare better than capital cities.
Capital cities
In November 2021, Australians:
- took 2.1 million overnight trips to capital cities
- spent $1.5 billion.
Compared to pre-COVID November 2019, this was a:
- 49% fall in overnight trips
- 55% fall in spend.
Regional areas
In contrast, Australians:
- took 5.2 million overnight trips to regional areas
- spent $3 billion.
Compared to pre-COVID November 2019, this was a:
- 9% fall in overnight trips
- 4% fall in spend.
Domestic day trips
Australians took 14.7 million day trips and spent $1.9 billion in November 2021.
Compared to pre-COVID November 2019, this was a:
- 23% fall in day trips
- 15% fall in spend.
Total pandemic losses at November 2021
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the visitor economy was growing faster than the national economy. By November 2021, total expenditure losses are estimated to be at $142 billion. Losses to the domestic tourism market are now at $73 billion.
The summing of individual months may result in slight differences due to rounding and weighting variations.