International visitor arrivals to Australia surpassed pre-pandemic levels in September 2025.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were 696,500 short-term visitor arrivals during the period, an increase of 10.4 per cent on one year earlier.

The number of trips was 0.2 per cent higher than the pre-COVID-19 level in September 2019.

The three leading source countries for visitors to Australia were New Zealand (135,720 trips), China (83,080) and the United Kingdom (46,900).

NSW also welcomed the highest number of visitor arrivals for short-term trips in the country during the period.

Short-term visitor arrivals to NSW returned to 2019 levels in May 2025 and have been rising since.

There were 256,380 short-term arrivals to NSW during the period, an increase of 9.7 per cent on September 2019.

The three leading source markets for visitors to NSW were China (40,980), New Zealand (38,220) and the United States (20,740).

Arrivals from China surged from 35,250 in September 2024 and came ahead of Golden Week, China's National Day holiday — a celebration commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 2025 Golden Week ran from 1-8 October and coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Many workers took an additional three days of leave, leading to a "super holiday" that fuelled international travel plans.

Among the top 10 international source markets for NSW that saw visitation surpass 2019 levels in September 2025 were South Korea with 19,920 arrivals (vs 11,480 in September 2019), the UK with 15,790 (vs 13.960 in September 2019), Singapore with 8740 (vs 8670 in September 2019) and the Philippines with 6380 (vs 5800 in September 2019).

NSW Visitor Economy Strategy 2035 – Vision to Action

Destination NSW will host a pivotal day of insight, collaboration and action on 18 November 2025 as it brings the NSW Visitor Economy Strategy 2035 to life.

With a bold vision to grow annual visitor expenditure to $91 billion, create 150,000 new jobs, and unlock 40,000 accommodation rooms and 8.5 million airline seats, this forum will be an opportunity to help shape the future of the visitor economy in NSW.

Date: 18 November 2025
Time: 8:30am–2pm
Location: ICC Sydney

With the theme 'NSW Visitor Economy Strategy 2035 – Vision to Action', the forum will be an opportunity to connect with industry leaders, government partners and innovators as the NSW Government moves from strategy to implementation.

Register here.