Diving dollar lures one million Chinese tourists to Australia Tourism Jamie Freed Spending by Chinese tourists in Australia has increased 43 per cent.
The number of Chinese visitors to Australia in a 12-month period has surpassed 1 million for the first time, driven by the lower dollar, which has been good for hotels, retailers and tourist attractions. 
The number of Chinese visitors rose 21.6 per cent to 1.0012 million in the 12 months ended   November 30, and has more than doubled over the past five years, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.
Government agency Tourism Research Australia forecast in 2015 that the number of short-term Chinese arrivals would outnumber those from New Zealand by the 2020 financial year, although in the 12 months ended   November there were 1.3 million New Zealand visitors.China has surpassed the targets laid out in the Tourism 2020 strategy launched six years ago.
The value of Chinese tourism was initially estimated at between $7.4 billion and $9 billion a year by 2020, but annual spending of $7.7billion has already exceeded the lower end of the range and more recent forecasts indicate it could be worth up to $13 billion by2020.
"China is a vitally important market for Australia's tourism industry growth," Tourism and International Education Minister Richard Colbeck said. "Visitor arrivals from China grew three times faster than the overall increase in the past year, and spending increased 43 per cent - double the previous year's growth rate."
Australian tourism operators have been increasingly tailoring their products for the Chinese market and improving their marketing to help attract mainland Chinese visitors.
Australia faces fierce competition from New Zealand, Canada, the United States and European nations for Chinese tourism dollars.
Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan said the marketing group had gone to significant lengths to research the preferences and behaviour of the target consumers.
"The good news is that the industry is really starting to embrace this incredible opportunity by developing experiences which better meet the needs of the many Chinese visitors now flocking to our country," he said.