National Visitor Survey monthly snapshot November 2022

Domestic tourism November 2022

Tourism Research Australia’s (TRA’s) monthly snapshots estimate tourism activity in the related month. TRA also produces quarterly and annual summaries.

This report compares the month of November 2022 with the pre-pandemic month of November 2019.

Key results

November 2022 saw strong improvement for domestic travel following the Delta variant of COVID-19 in 2021. However, when compared to the pre-pandemic period, the November 2022 results have softened. Overnight trips and nights spent on trips were down by 11% and 12% respectively. However, despite weaker travel, overnight spend was up 30%.

The increase in spend when compared to November 2019 saw:

• increased average spend per trip (up 45%)
• increased spend on holiday travel (up 41%)
• increased spending across all major expenditure items. The largest increases were on:
  • accommodation
  • airfares
  • food and drink.

Breakdown of results

In November 2022:

• there were 8.5 million overnight trips. This was down 11% compared to November 2019
• visitors spent 28.6 million nights away. This was down 12% compared to November 2019
• spend was up 30% ($1.9 billion) to $8.4 billion compared to November 2019
• there were strong spend results in all states and territories. The highest increase was in New South Wales (up 37% or $674 million, compared to November 2019)
• Travelers spent more money on average. The average spend per trip was up $309 (45%) to $993 compared to $683 in November 2019.

COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions have impacted October and November 2021 with strong signs of improvement. Early data shows domestic overnight trip rates were significantly up. This was for December and the first 3 weeks of January 2023. Trip rates early in 2023 are showing higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Domestic travellers are continuing to spend more when compared to pre-pandemic levels. In November 2022:

• average spend per trip was $993, up 45% from the $683 per trip in November 2019
• average spend per night was $294, up 48% from the $199 per night in November 2019.

Interstate and intrastate visitors and spend

Interstate travel

Overnight spend for November 2022 was up on pre-pandemic levels. However, overnight trips and nights away were down.

In November 2022, Australians:

• took 2.8 million interstate overnight trips. This was down 14% or 446,000 on the 3.3 million trips recorded in November 2019
• visitors spent 12.8 million nights away interstate. This was down 11% or 1.7 million compared to the 14.5 million nights away in November 2019
• spent $4.7 billion. This was up 26% or $961 million on November 2019.

The strongest growth in interstate spend compared to 2019 was in:

• Queensland – up $418 million or 63%
• New South Wales – up $170 million or 22%.

Intrastate travel

Intrastate trips saw continued strong spend results when compared to November 2019. In November 2022, Australians:

• took 5.7 million intrastate overnight trips. This was lower compared to the number of trips in November 2019 (down 560,000 or 9%)
• visitors spent 15.8 million nights away. This was down 13% or 2.3 million compared to the 18.1 million nights away in November 2019
• spent $3.7 billion on intrastate overnight trips, up 35% or $971 million on November 2019.

The strongest growth in intrastate spend compared to 2019 was in:

• New South Wales – up $503 million or 49%
• Western Australia – up $256 million or 56%.

Domestic day trips

Australians took 18.3 million day trips and spent $3.1 billion in November 2022.

Compared to a pre-COVID November 2019 this was a:

• 39% increase in spend
• 5% decrease in day trips.

National Visitor Survey results monthly data tables