The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said that visitors from China on holidays to Australia grew by 14 per cent in November, a figure partly down to the introduction of new direct flights from Shanghai to Cairns.
Minister for tourism Martin Ferguson said the increased capacity was evidence of the strength of the Australian market.
He said: "The increase in arrivals will assist industry to meet the Tourism 2020 goal of 140 billion AU dollars (almost 147.45 billion US dollars) in overnight expenditure.
"The Australian Government is working with the states and territories to reduce red tape and implement regulatory reform to assist in building the 40,000 new accommodation rooms that will be needed by 2020."
Overall overseas arrivals grew by almost seven per cent in November 2012.
