National Visitor Survey (NVS) results, year ending March 2022

Figure 1: Key domestic visitor highlights for Victoria

Some top line stats for domestic travel to and within Victoria for the year ending March 2022. Spend $10.6 billion down 32 per cent on the year ending March 2019. Visitors 18.2 million down 35 per cent on the year ending March 2019. Nights 55.8 million down 29 per cent on the year ending March 2019. Day trips 39.2 million down 34 per cent on the year ending March 2019.

Figure 2: Domestic overnight visitation summary results

"Table Title - Victorian Domestic Overnight Visitor Summary Table, Year ending March 2022. Column one title is Visitor Expenditure Estimates (includes airfares and long-distance transport costs). Victoria: $15.5 billion in year ending March 2019, $10.6 billion in year ending March 2022, down 32 per cent. Melbourne: $8.7 billion in year ending March 2019, $3.7 billion in year ending March 2022, down 57 per cent. Regional Victoria: $6.8 billion in year ending March 2019, 6.9 billion in year ending March 2022, up 1 per cent. Column two title is Overnight Visitor Estimates. Victoria: 27.8 million in year ending March 2019, 18.2 million in year ending March 2022, down 35 per cent. Melbourne: 10.8 million in year ending March 2019, 4.6 million in year ending March 2022, down 57 per cent. Regional Victoria: 17.8 million in year ending March 2019, 13.9 million in year ending March 2022, down 22 per cent. Column three title is Visitor Nights Estimates. Victoria: 79.0 million in year ending March 2019, 55.8 million in year ending March 2022, down 29 per cent. Melbourne: 29.7 million in year ending March 2019, 14.0 million in year ending March 2022, down 53 per cent. Regional Victoria: 49.3 million in year ending March 2019, 41.8 million in year ending March 2022, down 15 per cent."

For the year ending March 2022 (released June 2022), key points include:

  • The results for the year ending March 2022 continued to record declines for all key measures compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2019 although some results noted some improvement relative to last year during a period of lengthy restrictions in Victoria.
  • Total domestic expenditure (overnight and daytrip) in Victoria increased 58% year on year (from $9.7 billion to $15.4 billion) in the year ending March 2022, however fell 28 per cent compared to the year ending March 2019 value of $21.5 billion.
  • Domestic overnight expenditure in Victoria was $10.6 billion in the year ending March 2022, noting a 32% decline (or $4.9 billion loss) compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2019.
  • Melbourne noted a large decline in domestic overnight spend (-57% to $3.7 billion) with a loss of $5.0 billion compared to the year ending March 2019, due to its higher reliance on interstate visitors and extended restrictions. In comparison, regional Victoria recorded an increase of 1% (or up $70 million) compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2019. As such, domestic overnight spend is more than double the value in regional Victoria compared to Melbourne, generating 65% of total domestic overnight spend in Victoria in the year ending March 2022 compared to 45% in the year ending March 2019 (pre-COVID-19).
  • Intrastate overnight spend in regional Victoria was above the pre-pandemic year ending March 2019 (+13% or +$711 million) in the year ending March 2022, reflecting good recovery momentum. The largest loss in spend in regional Victoria was noted from interstate travel due to state border closures (-45% or down $641 million compared to the year ending March 2019). Melbourne’s loss was most impacted by the severe fall in interstate overnight spend (-66% or down $3.8 billion) compared to the year ending March 2019 (pre-COVID-19).
  • Daytrip spend to/within Victoria declined by 20% to $4.8 billion in the year ending March 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2019 (-$1.2 billion), with a higher rate of decline in daytrip spend noted in Melbourne (-24%) compared to regional Victoria (-18%).

How many Australians visit Victoria, where are they from and how much do they spend?

Previous releases:

Visit Tourism Research Australia for a range of interactive dashboards and monthly domestic visitor data.

Next NVS release: June 2022 (TBC)

Where are Victoria's tourism regions, and what do we know about regional visitation?

How many Australians will visit Victoria in the future?

Domestic Visitor Profiles

Visit Tourism Research Australia to access a suite of 22 domestic visitor profiles to better understand various domestic visitor segments based on who they are (e.g. family group) or what activities they undertake (e.g. Arts and Culture).

Page last updated 30 June 2021. Data considered correct at time of publishing.