Visitors to Victoria who engage in cultural activities play a vital role in boosting the economy and enhancing the state's reputation as a vibrant hub for culture and the arts. Explore key insights into the impact of tourism on Victoria’s cultural landscape.
Cultural Visitation
Cultural visitors are defined as domestic or international visitors who attended one or more of the following cultural experiences or activities while on their trip to/within Australia (with domestic overnight visitors having the experience in Victoria):
- attended theatre, concerts or other performing arts
- visited museums or art galleries
- visited art/craft workshops/studios
- attended festivals/fairs or cultural events
- visited history, heritage building sites or monuments
- experienced Aboriginal art/craft and cultural displays
- visited an Aboriginal site/community
- attended an Aboriginal performance
- went on a tour with an Aboriginal guide
- Participated in traditional activities such as welcome to country, acknowledgement of country, storytelling, smoking ceremonies and other cultural activities
- had an Aboriginal food experience
- had a camping experience on Aboriginal land
Cultural Visitation to Victoria
In year ending December 2024 there were 11.5 million total cultural visitors to Victoria1. From December 2019 to December 2024 there was a 4% decline in cultural visitation. *
Victorian cultural visitation has an upward trend. The below graph demonstrates that Victoria has performed well when compared to other states2 with a good rate of recovery of cultural visitors since 2019. *
Proportion of visitors
The below graph demonstrates that the proportion of total cultural visitors to/within Victoria is 13.0%. International overnight visitors have a higher proportion of people who undertook cultural experiences or activities. This is illustrated in the below pie chart which shows that 61.5% of international overnight visitors to Victoria undertook cultural experiences or activities during their trip to Australia (though the cultural activities undertaken may have occurred elsewhere in Australia).*
This graph illustrates the types of visitors to Victoria by: domestic day visitors, domestic overnight visitors and international visitors. The type of visitor split is also made available across three charts which show: cultural visitors to Victoria, cultural visitors to regional Victoria, and all visitors to Victoria. *
This graph shows the detail of activity participation of cultural visitors to/within Victoria in the year ending December 2024. It shows that visiting museums and galleries has the highest share of participation (45%).By selecting the activity, you can see the category of visitor – for example the graph reveals that 40% of Victorian visitors undertaking indigenous cultural activities on their trip are international overnight visitors.
This graph represents the source of cultural visitation to Victoria: within Victoria, interstate and international.* The highest number of cultural visitation comes from within Victoria. Currently the largest number of international overnight cultural visitors to Victoria come from China.3
International visitors
This chart spotlights the number of international overnight visitors and the number of nights they have stayed over time.* Currently the average number of nights for an international overnight cultural visitor to Victoria is 32 nights.
This graph shows the source markets of international overnight cultural visitors to Victoria over time. The graph shows that China currently has the highest number of cultural visitors however the total number remains below 2019 levels.* The graph can reveal possible new or growing markets for Victoria.
Cultural visitors expenditure
The below chart reveals in the year ending December 2024 total visitors to/within Victoria who engaged in cultural experiences on their trip (including indigenous cultural activities) spent an estimated $13.2 billion, and 32.9% total tourism expenditure in the state.
The following graph shows expenditure of cultural visitors to and within Victoria over time.* For the year ending December 2024, international overnight expenditure has the highest amount and share of expenditure despite the number and share of Victorian international overnight visitors being significantly lower than domestic visitors.
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Tourism and Events Research and Insights
*The years ending March 2020 to year ending September 2023 (inclusive) do not include international data due to COVID-19, only domestic data. The IVS produces international visitation estimates used a combination of airport interviews and immigration data taken from visa applications/passports, previous travel records and sampled incoming passenger cards, at the time international border restrictions interviewing was limited. Data for country, main reason for visit and state stopover were valid at the aggregated level, however details below these levels were not to be used. For more detail go to International Visitor Survey (IVS) methodology | Tourism Research Australia