Everybody needs good neighbours, and Australia is apparently a very good one to New Zealand.

Kiwis took the top spot for the most jaunts to Australia in the 12 months to March, making more than 1.2 million trips.

China, US, UK and India rounded out the top five sources of Australia’s international visitors during the same period, Tourism Research Australia (TRA) data revealed.

Although Vietnam and Philippines failed to make the top five, the number of visitors coming from those countries drove the biggest increase compared to the previous year: 441 per cent and 396 per cent, respectively.

But these significant jumps came off the back of low visitor numbers, with Vietnam and Philippines each contributing just 31,000 visitors to Australia during the year ending March 2023.

Meanwhile, European tourists seemed less keen on making the trip Down Under than their Asian fellows.

Out of the top countries listed by TRA, Switzerland, Netherlands and Italy had the least number of citizens visit Australia over the past year, although Thailand was a close fourth in the bottom ranking.

The low turnout may not entirely be blamed on the lingering effects of the pandemic; visitor numbers from these countries were also low in the year to March 2019.

Tourism almost fully recovered from Covid

Overall, Australia welcomed more than seven million international visitors over the year to March, an 84 per cent recovery of pre-pandemic figures.

A lower number of visitors did not equal a lower overall spend – quite the opposite.

International travellers to Australia spent $30.9 billion in Australia during the year to March, a 101 per cent rise compared to pre-pandemic.

Although the figure is impressive, it doesn’t necessarily mean travellers are purchasing more.

At least some of the spend could be caused by inflation-driven higher prices, with international visitors reported to have spent the majority of their money on airfares, food, drink and accommodation.

Most popular Australian destinations

Sydney welcomed the highest number of international visitors in the country, accompanied by the highest amount spent.

But Queensland performed best out of the states in Australia’s top five most popular destinations ranking, which had Melbourne come in second place, followed by Brisbane, Perth and Gold Coast.

Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Townsville were also among the regions in which tourists were spending more than they did pre-pandemic, with similarly larger spends seen in destinations such as Adelaide, Sydney and Darwin.