Indonesia "surpasses" New Zealand, becoming the most favorite destination for Australian tourists

With 1.37 million Australians visiting Indonesia for holidays in 2023, the Southeast Asian nation has overtaken New Zealand for the first time to become the most popular overseas tourist destination for Australians.

Indonesia 'vượt mặt' New Zealand, trở thành điểm đến yêu thích nhất của du khách Australia

Indonesia has overtaken New Zealand as Australia's most popular overseas holiday destination for the first time. (Source: sbs.com.au)

According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), about 1.37 million Australians visited Indonesia in 2023 (86% of them for vacation), while only 1.26 million people visited New Zealand.

New Zealand has been the most popular destination since the ABS began recording tourism data nearly 50 years ago, with Indonesia overtaking the US to take the runner-up spot since early 2014.

Australian visitor arrivals to both Indonesia and New Zealand peaked in 2019 before falling sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while Indonesia has returned to its pre-pandemic peak, New Zealand’s growth has slowed since 2022.

Tourism Industry Association of Australia chief executive Dean Long said New Zealand’s post-Covid-19 growth had been hit by the country’s major airlines downsizing their fleets during the pandemic. One of the most popular islands for Australian tourists in Indonesia is Bali.

Bali has announced it will begin charging international tourists a 150,000 rupiah ($15) tax to preserve local culture and the environment. Now the island is trying to leverage its popularity to better protect itself from some of the negative impacts of tourism.

Nearly 4.8 million tourists visited Bali between January and November 2023, as the island recovered to pre-pandemic levels of nearly 6.3 million direct foreign tourist arrivals a year, most of them Australian.

(according to VNA)

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