SA tourism hits $9.4 billion visitor economy
We are celebrating another incredible record-breaking result, as tourism in South Australia hits $9.4 billion in visitor expenditure – well surpassing the December 2022 record of $8.3 billion.
Thanks to strong growth in interstate and international spend, plus a bumper events calendar, the year to March 2023 saw the visitor economy jump by $3.3 billion – up 54 per cent, and the largest ever tourism spend in a calendar year.
We know major events are a major contributor to our visitor economy, and latest results from Adelaide Fringe and WOMADelaide prove it.
Earlier this week, the Adelaide Fringe announced the festival drove a whopping $105.5 million in economic expenditure – an impressive 40 per cent increase on last year with a great uptick on out of state visitors.
While the four-day international music festival, WOMADelaide, reported a record-breaking $32.1 million total economic impact. This was thanks to the highest attendance in the event’s history of 110,000 festivalgoers, with more than half of the audience being visitors to Adelaide.
The benefits of our River Revival Voucher program are already starting to flow, generating more than $1.6 million in booking value alone in the first week. It is great to hear from flood affected businesses that the bookings are helping them feel more confident about the winter season.
In an effort to further support our flood affected regions, the Santos Tour Down Under race routes for 2024 will see the men’s Stage 4 race start in Murray Bridge.This will not only boost visitation, but also showcase the iconic waterway across the world as the elite cyclists race alongside the Murray River.
As we look further ahead to rebuilding key international markets, our CEO Emma Terry is in China this week with a senior delegation of tourism and business events leaders, ahead of the launch of Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’day campaign. Federal Minister for Tourism Senator the Hon Don Farrell is also on the visit, along with Tourism Australia Chief Executive Phillipa Harrison.
Meanwhile in our city, the third Illuminate Adelaide program is a glow from today. Adelaide’s CBD is set to be filled with light and visitors over the next month, helping boost visitation and expenditure in a traditionally off-peak season.
Read on for further updates.
Stephanie Rozokos
Chief Operations Officer