Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that 5.9 million individual visits were made to the country during the year ending January 2012, which represented a fall of 0.2 per cent in comparison to the previous 12 months.
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were 496,800 short-term visitor arrivals during January 2012 - a decline of 0.6 per cent in relation to the December 2011 figure of 499,700, according to the ABS' Overseas Arrivals and Departures Australia January 2012 report.
This trend came on the back of 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent monthly decreases in November and December 2011 respectively.
However, it appears that visits from Asian travellers are largely balancing out the less frequent activity from traditional Western markets such as the US and the UK.
The number of visitors from China increased by 17 per cent over the past year, with the Chinese New Year festival in January leading to an even greater boost of 27 per cent for that month.
There was a 22 per cent rise of visitors from Hong Kong for the 12-month period, while Taiwan recorded a jump of 19 per cent and Indonesia just less than 14 per cent.
Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) chief executive John Lee said the ABS figures confirm the important role China plays for the tourism and hospitality industries in Australia.
"China represents a massive opportunity for us, which is why Tourism Australia is rightly focusing on lifting its presence in more Chinese cities," Lee said.
He added it was critical for Australia to capitalise on the momentum gained so far - and retain its edge over alternative markets, based on the advantage of the country's proximity to Asia.
"However, China's potential is also recognised by our competitors, who are making substantial investments to attract Chinese tourists.
"While smaller numbers of Chinese are travelling to the UK and Canada, they are also seeing faster growth than Australia, at 32 per cent and 24.4 per cent respectively."
Australia's ability to capture a significant share of the Asian travel market may prove essential to the revenue generated by businesses such as hotels, bars, casinos and tour operators going forward.
Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson said: "To further encourage growth in visitor numbers from Asia, the Australian government and Tourism Australia are investing more than $13 million this year in marketing to China.
"We are also investing tens of million of dollars in T-QUAL Grants projects to ensure continued improvement and innovation in Australia's tourist attractions."
