Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Brisbane’s popularity as a holiday destination would bring benefits well beyond tourism after latest data revealed an additional 594,000 international visitors in visited the city in the past financial year.

“Brisbane is Australia’s lifestyle capital, and millions of people are choosing to experience the very best of our region – boosting local businesses and supercharging Queensland’s visitor economy,” Schrinner said.

“This record result for international visitor nights is just the beginning, as we prepare to host the world in 2032 and beyond.”

The latest report from Tourism Research Australia showed Brisbane hosted an additional 594,000 international visitors in the past financial year.

This 15 percent increase brings the total visitors to Brisbane for the year ending June 2025 to 1.3 million.

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Travellers are staying longer, with holiday visitor nights growing to a record high of 7.5 million, up by 31.4 percent.

Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) CEO Anthony Ryan said this spike in tourism was boosted by BEDA’s Brisbane Favours the Bold campaign.

“BEDA is proud to collaborate with partners to continuing elevating Brisbane’s global profile as a world-class destination, attracting major events and business events – such as Magic Round Brisbane and Australian Tourism Exchange – while supporting new and expanding aviation routes,” Ryan said.

Visitor Insights

Global travellers spent $3.1 billion in Brisbane, while domestic expenditure rose to $5.8 billion.

Brisbane saw unprecedented growth in visits from from Taiwanese (up 46.8 percent), French (24.7) and Scandinavian (27.2) visitors.

New Zealand and Japan still make up the most of Brisbane’s international visits with NZ visitors rising 2.7 percent to 247,000 within the last year.

Japanese visitors brought record numbers with 2.2 million vacationers, marking a 13.2 percent increase.

Chinese travellers increased by 21.8 percent to 115,000 due to an increase in direct flights.

Brisbane claimed more than a third of total Queensland visitation (4.7 million) and expenditure ($5.8 billion) from January to June 2025.

Domestic visitors supplied 49 percent of total business spending in Queensland, bringing an additional $895 million into Brisbane’s economy.