Cultural tourism

Over 50 per cent of all international visitors to Australia participate in at least one cultural or heritage activity during their stay, according to a 2008 survey by Tourism Research Australia.

Among domestic overnight tourists, 20 per cent participate in two or more cultural or heritage activities during their stay. Among domestic day tourists, the participation rate drops to 8 per cent.

The most popular cultural or heritage activity for international visitors was visiting a historical or heritage building, with 61 per cent participating. This was followed by visiting museums or art galleries with 57 per cent participating.

For domestic overnight visitors, visiting museums or art galleries was the most popular activity, with 44 per cent participating. This was followed by visiting a historical or heritage building with 30 per cent participating.

For day visitors, visiting museums or art galleries was also the most popular activity, with 35 per cent participating; followed by visiting a historical or heritage building with 24 per cent participating.

Share of cultural and heritage visitors by activity, 2008

Cultural and heritage tourism activity	International visitors	Domestic overnight visitors	Domestic day visitors
(%)
Attend theatre, concerts or other performing arts	24	23	22
Visit museums or art galleries	57	44	35
Visit art and craft workshops or studios	18	7	8
Attend festivals and fairs or cultural events	21	17	19
Experience Indigenous art and craft and cultural displays	22	3	1
Visit an Indigenous site or community	11	2	np
Visit historical or heritage building sites or monuments	61	30	24

np: Not publishable due to reliability concerns issues.

Source: Tourism Research Australia, Snapshot: Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Australia 2008.

Between 2000 and 2008 cultural and heritage tourism for international visitors had an average annual growth of 3 per cent, increasing to 2.7 million visitors. There were 9.7 million domestic overnight tourists in the same period.