The number of international tourists visiting South Australia has jumped by almost 11 per cent in a year.

Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said 362,000 international tourists had visited SA in the 12 months to the end of September, an increase of 10.9 per cent.

SA has been particularly successful in attracting more Chinese and US visitors with the numbers from those countries jumping by 47 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.

“Despite a strong Australian dollar and a challenging global economic climate in recent times, South Australia has remained more than competitive compared to other Australian destinations,” Mr Bignell said.

“The demand for South Australia is clearly growing in our key international markets and the visitors are arriving.”

The minister said SA’s next challenge was to encourage tourists to stay for longer and spend more money.