Japan leads the charge as Brisbane hits the tourism jackpot

Brisbane has welcomed more Japanese tourists than ever before, while international visitors as a whole splashed a record sum in the past 12 months, according to new data released on Wednesday.

The Tourism Research Australia data shows the River City welcomed 1.3 million overseas visitors in the year ending September 2025. That included 52,000 Japanese – an increase of 12.4 per cent on the previous period.

The number of visitors from New Zealand fell by 2.6 per cent, but they still made up the largest group of visitors at 242,000.

Luke Fraser, the chief executive of Artemus Group and Howard Smith Wharves, said his precinct had noticed the surge in visitors.

“One of the things we really notice is when there’s big sporting events, which are driving a lot of these tourism numbers too,” he said, pointing to the British and Irish Lions rugby tour and cricket’s Ashes Test.

“Particularly during the week, you notice a lot of the different accents when you walk through. On the weekends, we’re obviously really well supported by locals.”

Tourists who spoke to this masthead in King George Square on Wednesday had mostly just arrived and were making the City Hall and its Christmas tree their first stop.

QUT international student Huang Yang Lim was showing his Malaysian family around the city, and he also planned to take them to the Gold Coast while they were in Australia.

A German couple in town to spend Christmas with their son, who has lived here for 20 years, said they were not planning to travel outside Brisbane.

After New Zealand, tourists from China and the US formed the next largest groups at 128,000 and 111,000 people respectively.

There was a surge of 88,000 visitors from the United Kingdom, up 25.5 per cent on last year.

International visitors spent a record $3.3 billion, which was on top of the $9.9 billion spent by more than 7 million domestic visitors.

Fraser said Festa Italiana, held at Howard Smith Wharves, and the Story Bridge Adventure Climb, which his group also operates, were huge attractions for the city.

“[The bridge climb] has got a really great visibility for visitors coming to the city. The views up there – you see everything from the bay to the Glass House Mountains,” he said.

While the cost of living was still an issue, Fraser said many of his customers had changed their habits rather than cut their spending entirely.

He said some tourists found that because of their home currency’s strong conversion rate to the Australian dollar, spending money here had a good return.

“Enjoying the food and the drink – which is of such high quality here in Queensland – for them, it seemed really affordable. And I think that’s probably a big reason why some of the tourism spends have been so strong,” he said.

He also noticed more tourists travelling on the CityCat, adding: “If we keep the focus on activating the river, that will be a superpower for us in tourism.”

The tourism triumph comes after Montague Road in South Brisbane and West End was named among the world’s coolest streets.

Time Out magazine noted the presence of Queensland Ballet, Queensland Theatre Company, the Gallery of Modern Art, the strip’s thriving food scene, wellness spaces, and boutique shops.

Brisbane was also named Queensland’s top destination earlier this year, attracting four in every 10 visitors to the state and breaking international records.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.