Slight rise in overseas tourist numbers

Friday November 6, 2009, 12:47 pm

A rise in the number of Malaysian visitors to Australia has propped up short-term arrival numbers for September.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday reported a 0.5 per cent increase in short-term visitor arrivals over the month, which was also 0.5 per cent higher than in September 2008.

The highest percentage increase over the year to September was recorded by Malaysia (22.6 per cent), while Japanese visitor numbers fell 24 per cent and Korean visitors were down 15.9 per cent.

There was strong growth in American and Indonesian visitors over the year to September, up 12.1 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively.