Has the Chinese tourism bubble burst for Australia? New data is alarming outlook for the once-booming market
- Chinese tourism dropped in November
- It was the third-biggest source of tourists
- READ MORE: Alpine village wages war on tourists
China dropped from Australia's second-biggest source of inbound tourists to its third in November, in line with a worrying trend of Chinese tourism dropping.
China has long been a key market for Australian tourism but in November 2025 the number of Chinese tourists dipped below those from the UK.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed 74,500 short-term visitors came from China, compared to 80,090 from the UK and 127,820 from the US.
While the latest figures on Chinese tourists mark a significant increase from November 2023 and November 2024 - 45,880 and 55,800 respectively - they remain a drastic drop from pre-Covid levels.
In November 2019 a total of 101,390 short-term tourists travelled from China to Australia. That year alone more than 1.4 million Chinese tourists holidayed in Australia and spent $12.4 billion.
It seems the market is struggling to return to its pre-Covid position more than four years later.
China still remains Australia's most lucrative tourism market, despite the drop in numbers, with inbound tourists spending $9.2 billion in Australia in the 12 months to March 2025.
However, Huang Songshan, a leading Chinese tourism expert at Edith Cowan University, warned increasing economic pressure in China could see long-haul travel drop.
China dropped from the second to the third-largest source of inbound tourists into Australia in November 2025
Mandopop star Jay Chou (pictured) attended this year's Australian Open, creating buzz on Chinese social media
'Ultimately, this year's outlook will depend on the bigger economic picture,' Professor Huang told ABC News.
'If people feel their wealth is shrinking, they may cut back or abandon outbound travel altogether.'
Instead, Chinese holidaymakers are likely to turn to cheaper, closer destinations.
Those include hotspots like Thailand and Vietnam.
However, a recent success during the Australian Open has raised tourism experts' hopes for increased travel from China to Australia during celebrations for the Chinese New Year, from mid-February to early March.
Massive Mandopop star Jay Chou attended this year's Australian Open, resulting in several viral moments shared across Chinese social media.
Those included his participation in a fan-focused 'One Point Slam' challenge and the crowd cheering as Chou's song Nunchucks was played in the stadium.
Other Asian tourism markets have already recovered post-Covid, like South Korean visitors who nearly doubled from 26,010 in November 2019 to 44,760 in November 2025.
Experts remain divided on whether Chinese tourism will recover quickly, as seen in other Asian markets, or take several years to draw the same pre-Covid numbers
While China is likely to take a few more years to bounce back to pre-Covid levels, Tourism Australia remained hopeful visitors would return.
'We have a comprehensive program of trade and consumer marketing throughout the year to encourage Chinese travellers to visit Australia,' managing director Robin Mack said.
'So far, the response has been encouraging.'
