Australia has become the UK’s second most valuable visitor market for the first time after Aussie travellers hit British shores in record numbers last year. And travel agents should expect the good times to continue this year, VisitBritain says.
During the July-September quarter of 2023 alone, Australian visitors spent a record-breaking £668 million (around AU$1.3 billion), according to the latest visitor data from VisitBritain.
Pushing Australia past Germany as the UK’s second-most valuable source market after the United States, Aussie spend in Q3 grew 43 per cent on the same period in 2022 and a massive 61 per cent on 2019 levels.
The record expenditure was the result of all-time high visitor numbers for the quarter, as nearly half a million (455,000) Aussies descended on Britain between July and September last year, a rise of 41 per cent on 2022 and eight per cent on 2019 levels.
Australia now sits in seventh place by visitor numbers, but it’s spend that tourism authorities value most. In other words, quality over quantity of travellers.
Meanwhile, New Zealand visitation to the UK also hit all-time high numbers for the third quarter of 2023 for visits and expenditure, with 107,000 Kiwis spending a record £154 million (about AU$300 million) over this period.
This reflects an increase in visitor numbers of 41 per cent and a whopping 87 per cent in spend on 2019 levels.
“We’re thrilled to see Australia deliver this unprecedented quarterly result, becoming Britain’s second most valuable source market for the first time across any quarter,” VisitBritain Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand Maria Sykes said.
“It is truly remarkable that Britain’s most distant friend delivered greater value than its close neighbours, France and Germany across this quarter.
“We look forward to continuing to build on this demand in 2024, working closely with our travel trade industry partners across Australia and New Zealand to inspire visitors to stay longer and discover more of Britain’s vibrant cities, contemporary culture and charming coast and countryside.”
VisitBritain predicts that Australia will contribute nearly £1.5 billion (AU$2.9 billion) to the UK economy in 2023, marking a 25 per cent increase compared to 2019.
Similarly, New Zealand is projected to show robust post-pandemic recovery in 2023, surpassing its 2019 tourism spending in the UK by 84 per cent.
Both markets are expected to surpass pre-pandemic visitor numbers in 2023, based on VisitBritain’s latest forecasts.
Overall, VisitBritain predicts international spend in 2024 to hit £34.1 billion, up seven per cent on the spending predicted in 2023 and 20 per cent on 2019.
It anticipates international visits and expenditure to recover to pre-pandemic levels in early 2025.
Last year, VisitBritain added Bradley Nardi as its new Commercial Manager for Australia & New Zealand to oversee strategic business partnerships and trade engagement strategy in the ANZ market.
