Domestic statistics

Tourism Research Australia is transitioning its data methodology, resulting in a more comprehensive data outcome for our industry.

The National Visitor Survey (NVS), Tourism Research Australia's primary tool for collecting Australian domestic tourism data from 1998 to 2024, faced significant challenges in recent years. Shifts in respondent behaviour, a surge in scam calls, and data breaches made individuals increasingly reluctant to participate in phone interviews. This declining engagement jeopardized the survey's data quality, representativeness, and reliability, while simultaneously driving up costs due to lower response rates. Consequently, the NVS was deemed no longer a feasible long-term data collection solution.

In response to these concerns, the National Visitor Survey (NVS) data collection method was replaced by the Domestic Tourism Statistics collection (DoTS) method, effective January 1, 2025. DoTS uses a hybrid data collection approach, integrating traditional survey methods with large-scale mobile phone mobility data to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, reliability, and geographic detail of domestic tourism insights.

The initial data release under the new DoTS methodology, covering Q1 (January, February and March) of 2025, provides domestic overnight visitor figures only. TRA has ‘back cast’ the interstate and intrastate overnight visitor data back to 2019 to allow for accurate comparisons with past periods. This ‘back cast’ data is publicly accessible. It is currently available at the state level, without regional breakdowns. Future releases will provide regional level breakdowns.

Tourism Research Australia will not publish Day Trip data in this current release as it transitions to the new methodology. Comprehensive data on Day Trips, including for the current period, will be retrospectively published as part of the next data release in September 2025.

Due to an incomplete dataset for the year ending March 2025, SATC is unable to provide its usual level of analysis and reporting. By September 2025 we will be able to report on domestic performance.

For more information visit Tourism Research Australia.

Next domestic data is scheduled for release on 24 September 2025.

Get the latest data on domestic visitation to and within South Australia including visitor expenditure, day trips and overnight stays. The latest report of domestic visitors to and within South Australia is for the year end December 2024.