Leisure travel was the highest earning sector for visitor spend, up 9 per cent for the 12 months, and China was the highest value inbound market up 25 per cent to $6.4 billion.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said the double digit increase in international spending was impressive, boosted by strong distribution and aviation partnerships and, most recently, by Chinese New Year and the staging of two of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.

“The 32 per cent increase this quarter in Chinese spending is unprecedented and testament, I think, to our strategy of moving away from group tour business towards the much more lucrative free and independent travel segment,” he said.

O’Sullivan said the spending figures also demonstrated the positive impact that large scale events had on the visitor economy, in a period which saw Australia host the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and 2015 Cricket World Cup.

“Who can forget those Indian cricket fans packing out our cricket grounds during the Cricket World Cup? They may not have won the world cup, but they certainly won the hearts of many of our tourism operators, with holiday spending from India up 125 per cent in the quarter,” he said.