Domestic tourism on the rise in ACT Australia

Domestic tourism to the Australian Capital Territory is on the rise, with new figures showing visitors are staying longer and spending more.

Australian holiday makers spent an extra $70 million in Canberra last year, despite family and business-related visits being slightly on the decline.

The number of international visitors to the country is on the increase.

Tourism Minister Andrew Barr says he is pleased by the results but more can be done.

"An area that I think we do need to target more effectively is the age group 18 to 34," he said.

"A recent survey showed that the perceptions of Canberra for people in that age group were somewhat negative and we are looking at ways of targeting our marketing to those age groups."

Mr Barr says big crowds for events like Floriade have helped boost local figures.

"Pleasingly, we've seen an increase in those who are coming to the Australian Capital Territory for a holiday," he said.

"That's increased by 4.4 per cent on the 2005 results and particularly for the December quarter, the final three months for 2006 saw a 5 per cent increase in the overall numbers for domestic visitors." SOURCE: © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation