Australian Tourism in the USA: How Valuable is the Australian Traveler?

Written by: Rebecca Ellwood (Partner Content Producer Luxury Escapes)

Did you know that 72-73% of Australian tourists that visit the USA will return for a second or third time? Australian travelers are clearly hungry for experiences in the US, looking not only to the most popular mainstream destinations such as LA and San Francisco but to lesser-trodden locations such as Sonoma County and Greater Palm Springs.

This is just one of the insights offered by Allie Sparr of Gate 7, a multi-award-winning marketing agency which works with tourism boards to promote tourism to California around the world.

We sat in conversation with Allie to learn more about Australian tourism to the USA.

Scroll down for the video and some highlights from the interview.

Can you tell us about any key trends that you’ve seen from Australian tourists visiting California?

We’re seeing a tonne of repeat travel to the US and to California specifically from Australia – about 72-73% of Australians visiting the USA will go back for a second or third time. Maybe the first time they did LA, went to Disneyland and they want to see more, they want to get out into wine country or they want to see a place like Greater Palm Springs, somewhere a bit different. We are seeing people go deeper into the destination but also looking at California as more a wellness destination as you gget a lot of similar experiences and quality that you’d get in Australia but it tends to be a little bit different or a bit better value. You get beautiful rugged landscapes over the Pacific Ocean, people might go and do a yoga retreat.

How valuable is Australian tourism to California and where do you see an opportunity to expand on that?

Australia’s incredibly valuable to California, it’s one of the top five largest markets worldwide which given the population is pretty impressive. With trends like people returning to California and getting deeper into the destinations, there’s an opportunity to keep exploring, to get out into the destinations like Tahoe or Sonoma County, going down to San Diego and the desert region near Greater Palm Springs, and just seeing the diversity that California has and the range of experiences outside those big mainstream cities that everyone knows and recognizes.

For more insights from Allie, check out these articles on the Luxury Escapes magazine:

New and Exclusive: An Insider’s Guide to California

The California Series: An Insider’s Guide to San Francisco

The California Series: Discover the State’s Best-Kept Secret

If you’re a USA-based vendor and you’re interested in working with Luxury Escapes, get in touch with us here.