Tourism Research Australia's report Tourism Businesses in Australia, released 25 July 2016, shows the contribution of the tourism industry to GDP increased 17.8 per cent over the past four years to reach $47.5 billion.
The report shows the tourism industry comprised around 273,500 businesses in June 2015, which represented over 13 per cent of Australia's total 2.1 million businesses.
While around 95 per cent of businesses were small, employing less than 20 people, medium and large businesses also played a vital role in the industry by generating around two-thirds of total revenue.
While visitor spending continues to grow, there is still work ahead to meet the upper band of the industry's $140 billion annual target under the Tourism 2020 strategy.
The full report is available at www.tra.gov.au
