SOUTH Australia is enjoying the highest percentage growth of UK visitors than any other part of the country, according to latest government tourism statistics.
The results are based on arrivals for the year to June 30, 1999 – the end of the Australian financial year.
They show that South Australia generated a 24% year-on-year increase with 74,200 visiting Britons, compared to a 22% growth for Western Australia, 20% for Northern Territory, 17% for Tasmania, 14% for Victoria, 13% for both New South Wales and Australia’s Capital Territory, and an 11% rise for Queensland.
In terms of the growth in UK visitor nights year-on-year, Northern Territory came top with a 21% rise, followed by Western Australia with a 20% increase, while South Australia took third spot with a 19% jump.
South Australian Tourism Commission UK manager Angelika Zoeller said: “The capacity battles on flight seats over both Far Eastern and US routes to Australia during 1999 made the destination look highly affordable, particularly when pitched against Caribbean, US or Indian Ocean holiday options.
“Secondly, the discounting which became an almost permanent factor of the flight market to Australia over the past 18 months has certainly helped to hasten the market’s maturity.
“We have witnessed a major upsurge in the number of repeat UK visitors who are returning to Australia within two years.”