The headline numbers
These are the most recent official figures available at the time of writing (September 2026).
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourism GDP | $81.1 billion, 2.9% of the economy | 2024–25 | ABS, Tourism Satellite Account |
| Domestic tourism consumption | $168.8 billion, up 1.9% | 2024–25 | As above |
| International tourism consumption | $42.3 billion, up 10.1% | 2024–25 | As above |
| Tourism filled jobs | 696,000, 4.4% of all jobs | 2024–25 | As above |
| Short-term visitor arrivals | 9.1 million, up 8.3% | 2025–26 | ABS, Overseas arrivals and departures 2025–26 |
| International visitor spend in Australia | $40.9 billion, up 20% | Year ending March 2026 | TRA, International tourism results |
| Domestic overnight trips | 28.9 million; $29.7 billion spend | March quarter 2026 | TRA, Domestic tourism statistics |
| Domestic day trips | 71.2 million; $13.0 billion spend | March quarter 2026 | As above |
Two things stand out. Tourism is a significant employer — close to 700,000 jobs. And Australians travelling at home spend roughly four times what international visitors do. For most regional operators, school holidays, long weekends and events matter at least as much as international flight schedules.
How big is the monthly swing?
National annual totals smooth out the swings individual businesses feel. The ABS monthly arrivals series shows them clearly:
| Month | Short-term visitor arrivals | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 1,036,660 | Up 9.7% |
| July 2026 | 710,980 | Down 4.3% |
That’s roughly 46% more international arrivals in the peak summer month than in mid-winter. The ABS also notes that 2025–26 was the second-highest year on record for arrivals, still 2.6% below the pre-COVID peak of 2018–19, with softer results in the last three months of the financial year.
Domestic travel has its own rhythm: the Christmas–January summer holidays, Easter, the four sets of school holidays and long weekends. TRA noted that March 2026 compared well partly because March 2025 had been hit by Tropical Cyclone Alfred — a reminder that weather can remove weeks of trade from one region while others carry on.
Regional seasons at a glance
The national pattern is summer-heavy, but Australia’s regions run on very different calendars:
| Region | Peak | Quiet stretch |
|---|---|---|
| Cairns, Port Douglas and the Daintree | Dry season, roughly May–October | Wet season, roughly November–April |
| Whitsundays and Airlie Beach | Dry-season winter months and school holidays | Late summer wet and cyclone season |
| Snowy Mountains and Victorian High Country | Ski season, June long weekend to early October | Late autumn, and shoulder periods before summer hiking |
| Gold Coast | School holidays, summer and major events | Midweek periods outside holidays |
| Tasmania, including the east coast | December–March | June–August |
| Margaret River | Summer, Easter and school holidays | Mid-winter weekdays |
These are general patterns. Your own bookings history is the best guide to your version of them.
Where to get data for your region
- Tourism Research Australia publishes quarterly domestic and international results, and state and regional tourism satellite accounts.
- The ABS arrivals series is monthly and shows international seasonality and source markets.
- State tourism organisations publish regional snapshots built on TRA surveys.
- Your channel partners — booking platforms and wholesalers — can often share forward bookings for your area.
Turning data into a cash plan
Data is only useful when it changes a decision.
- Chart your own revenue by month for at least two years.
- Overlay the regional pattern from TRA or your state tourism organisation.
- Mark the gap months where revenue falls below fixed costs — rent, core wages, insurance, loan repayments.
- Add the tax and super calendar. BAS, PAYG instalments and Payday Super don’t pause for the wet season.
- Check the trend. Are shoulder seasons lengthening or shrinking?
- Arrange funding before the trough, while bank statements show peak trade.
Our seasonal cash flow plan guide walks through the forecasting step by step.
Example scenario — illustrative only. A reef-tour operator in Cairns charts three years of monthly takings against regional visitor data. The pattern is consistent: revenue runs well above costs from May to October, falls below them from late January to March, and the lowest bank balance arrives in early April, just before the dry season bookings start paying deposits. The February BAS and super on the skeleton crew’s wages both land in that trough. With the numbers in front of it, the business sets aside a share of each dry-season week’s takings, arranges a standby facility in September while statements look strongest, and books vessel maintenance for the quietest weeks instead of the shoulder.
How international and domestic seasons combine
International and domestic demand don’t always peak together. International arrivals lift in the southern summer as northern-hemisphere visitors escape winter, and they include a large share of people visiting friends and relatives. Domestic holiday travel concentrates around Christmas, Easter and school holidays, which differ slightly by state. A business that draws on both can have a longer, flatter season than one that relies on either. A business that relies on one market alone — say, interstate families in school holidays — can face sharper swings and should plan its buffer accordingly.
What the headline numbers don’t tell you
Strong national figures don’t mean a strong season for every operator.
- Spend per visitor varies. International spend rose faster than trips in the year to March 2026, but domestic spending has grown more slowly.
- Labour costs in resort towns rise fastest in the busiest weeks, and super must now be paid within days of each pay run.
- Booking windows are short, making staffing and stock harder to forecast.
- Weather and events — cyclones, floods, a thin snow season — can wipe out part of a season in one region.
Use official data for context and trend. Use your own bank statements and bookings for decisions.
What does the data mean for funding?
Lenders assessing a tourism business want to see that the seasonal pattern is consistent and that the peak comfortably clears the trough. Regional data helps make that case: a quiet February in Port Douglas that mirrors the whole Tropical North is clearly seasonal, not a sign of decline.
See our tourism and hospitality funding page for how we work with operators, or start a 60-second enquiry. For carrying costs through the quiet months, a line of credit suits businesses usually trading six months or more, and larger needs, such as a vessel refit or new accommodation units, may suit a property-secured loan of $20,000 to $1m. Our seasonal business funding page explains how both are timed around your peak and trough.