The given charts illustrate the proportion of tourists to Australia from different parts of the world, consisting of three continents: Asia, Europe and North America, two countries: China and New Zealand, and people coming from other places; and their purposes for the trip are divided into five main reasons: vacation, business, education, job and other. To summarise, Asian tourists made up the most of foreign visitors, while going to Australia for holiday became the most common cause for them.
In terms of visits, Asian people dominated Australia travel flux in 2008 and 2012, constituting 26% and 28% respectively. In parallel, Chinese tourists and those from other countries ranked last in both years, only making up one-fifth of the pie altogether. Nevertheless, other segments witnessed small changes. A minimal upward trend can be clearly seen regarding Europe and New Zealand, with a slight increase of 7% and 1% correspondingly. Meanwhile, within the span of 4 years, North American tourists declined from 20% to 13%.
Concerning principal rationales for travelling to Australia, education, employment and other purposes together accounted for only a small proportion of visits to Australia (16%). Business travel represented less than a quarter of total arrivals, whereas the majority of visitors, at 60%, travelled during holidays.