Victoria's core tourism sectors

Tourism is a significant economic driver for Victoria.  Visitors to and within Victoria generate both direct and flow on impacts across industries to deliver and support visitor experiences and consumption in the state.

People travel for leisure, whether it be for holidays or visiting friends or relatives, and also travel for business, education and employment purposes and are all part of the visitor economy.  Visitors travel to and around the state, spending money along the way, contributing to the economy through nights in hotels or other accommodation providers, consuming food and wine, shopping, attending events and visiting attractions.

The Victorian Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) defines the industry as comprising six core sectors:

  1. Events
  2. Accommodation
  3. Attractions
  4. Transport
  5. Service/hospitality (restaurants with popular tourism hotspots)
  6. Destination marketing

Fast facts

  • In 2020-21 the state's tourism industry generated $10.7 billion (directly and indirectly) in Gross State Product, accounting for 2.3 per cent of Victoria’s economy. This represents a decline of 63.7 per cent compared to pre-COVID estimates from 2018-19 and reflects the devasting impacts of the pandemic on the sector in this period.
  • Tourism in Victoria generated 120,000 jobs in 2020-21, equating to 3.6 per cent of employment in the state. Tourism employment also suffered a loss in this period due to COVID-19, down 53.7 per cent compared to 2018-19 estimates.
  • The latest data from Tourism Research Australia shows total tourism expenditure in Victoria was $31.5 billion in the year ending December 2022, an increase of 113% compared to the year ending December 2021. Overall total tourism spend was back to 97% of the pre-pandemic level.
  • International overnight expenditure in Victoria was $3.3 billion in the year ending December 2022, recovered to 37% of the pre-COVID-19 year ending December 2019. However, spend was $2.9 billion higher than the same time last year.
  • Total visitors to and within Victoria were up 44% from the year ending December 2021 to 83.1 million. Total visitors were back to 83% of the pre-pandemic result (year ending December 2019).

Find out more about the value of tourism to Victoria's economy.