National Visitor Survey – data collection

The National Visitor Survey is Australia’s primary measure of domestic tourism activity being the major
source of information on the characteristics and travel patterns of domestic tourists within Australia. The
survey data is collected throughout the year with an annual sample of 120,000 Australian residents over
the age of 15 years.

Respondents are interviewed in their homes using random digit dialling and Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing system. The survey collects details about respondents recent travel, for day trips, trips
involving overnight stays and overseas travel.

National Visitor Survey definitions are based on those provided by the World Tourism Organisation and
therefore interviews people who have travelled for purposes including holiday, visiting friends and relatives,
business, education and employment. These travellers must not have been away from home continuously
for more than 364 days, or in a leap year 365 days.

Results from the National Visitor Survey are published quarterly and on an annual basis.

The Domestic Tourism Monitor
The Domestic Tourism Monitor was conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research until March 1998. The
National Visitor Survey was introduced in January 1998 replacing the Monitor. The National Visitor Survey
not only provides more information on the characteristics and travel behaviour of domestic travel
but collects additional information on leisure activities, expenditure and outbound travel.
In the National Visitor Survey, aspects of the sampling, collection methodologies and the questions are
quite different from those used in the Domestic Tourism Monitor. Therefore the differences between the
results from the two surveys cannot validly be interpreted as changes in the level of tourism activity or
travel behaviour of Australians.

The National Visitor Survey Weighting and Benchmarking
Weights for the National Visitor Survey are calculated on an individual trip basis. They take into account the
age, sex and place of origin of the respondent, size of the household in which they live, month of
travel, recall period applicable to the trip and the number of interviews with a return date in this recall
period. For example; the recall period is 7 days for day trips, 28 days for overnight trips and 3 months for
overseas trips. The National Visitor Survey is benchmarked to population estimates of those over the age
of 15 years.