The arts is a key driver for domestic tourism in Australia, a new report by the Australia Council for the Arts has found. The study is a follow up to the Australia Council’s International Arts Tourism: Connecting cultures, which revealed an increase in international arts tourism to Australia.

The Big Red Bash Festival in Birdsville, on the edge of the Simpson Desert in Outback Queensland. Photo © Matt Williams

According to the report, Domestic Arts Tourism: Connecting the Country, Australians took 12.3 million daytrips and 13.4 million overnight trips within Australia that included arts activities in 2018 – an increase of 14 percent and 20 percent respectively since 2014 – with increases found across visiting museums and art galleries, attending performing arts, visiting art or craft workshops or studios, attending festivals, and experiencing First Nations arts and craft. The report also flagged an increasing interest in First Nations arts tourism.

The study also found that arts tourists are likely to stay longer and spend more than domestic tourists overall, and that domestic tourists are more likely to engage with the arts than sports events, amusement parks or wineries (though the arts fall...