OFFICIAL

To Whom It May Concern

Acknowledging that your below request does not meet the formal requirements for an FOI request, we have sought to address your query administratively.

International visitor data is collected by Tourism Research Australia (TRA) through the International Visitor Survey (IVS). The IVS questionnaire seeks to capture the respondent's country of residence at the time the information is collected, however, this data is based on a sample (rather than a census) of international visitors to Australia. Those countries with a statistically reliable sample size are captured and reported on a standalone basis in TRA's datasets, which can be accessed through TRA's website or else through a paid TRA data subscription (and are therefore not subject to FOI requests by dint of 12(1)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)).

In relation to why only some (and not all) countries are listed, if the number of visitors from a particular country in any given reporting period is not sufficient to comprise a statistically reliable sample, that data is not captured and reported on a standalone basis. For the many countries from which Australia receives a relatively small number of visitors, insufficient numbers of survey responses are collected for TRA to report reliable data on a standalone basis. As a result, these countries are often grouped together for reporting purposes. Further information on the IVS methodology can be found here: https://www.tra.gov.au/en/international/....

In case it assists, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes comprehensive Overseas (visitor) Arrivals and Departures data each month (catalogue no. 3401.0), which may contain further information in relation to any specific country or countries which you are interested in.

If you have any further queries of a general nature, you can contact TRA directly using this form: https://www.tra.gov.au/en/about-tra/cont....

We would be grateful if you could please confirm in writing whether the above sufficiently answers your query.

Kind regards

FOI Coordination Officer
Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
Level 7, Tower 3, International Towers, 300 Barangaroo Ave, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
www.austrade.gov.au

Austrade acknowledges the traditional owners of this country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present.

OFFICIAL
-----Original Message-----
From: Foifoi Mcgee +ADw-foi+-request-13710-a559b5ed+AEA-righttoknow.org.au+AD4-
Sent: Thursday, 25 September 2025 7:15 AM
To: FOI Coordination Officer +ADw-foi.coordination.officer+AEA-austrade.gov.au+AD4-
Subject: Freedom of Information request - International visitor datasets

+AFs-You don't often get email from foi+-request-13710-a559b5ed+AEA-righttoknow.org.au. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... +AF0-

Dear Tourism Research Australia,

I would like documents showing what countries are captured by your international visitor datasets. I would also like documents that show why only these countries are chosen.

Yours faithfully,

Foifoi Mcgee

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