International tourist arrivals in Australia will be driven mainly by "the new middle-class market coming out of China , India and the Gulf region." This observation is part of a forecast for the next years released in Canberra by Tourism Australia and quoted by www.ehotelier.com. The report has been sourced from eTN Asia Pacific.

Australia is relying less on arrivals from traditional markets, like the UK , New Zealand and Japan . Their place is being taken over by China , India and the Gulf. "Over the last five years those markets have grown," observed Bernard Salt of Tourism Australia .

The tourism promotion body's figures show arrivals from the Gulf are up by 20%. "We expect figures to be even higher this year," added Andrew Oldfield, who is responsible for distribution development for the GCC region. Australia , he said, is fast becoming a favourite and repeat destination for Qataris. He attributed the growing tourist arrivals from the Gulf to the 42 flights landing every week in Australia .