International demand for Aboriginal food, art and cultural experiences is turning business opportunities into sustainable and viable tourism operations.
Key points:
• Tourism Australia's latest data shows massive surge
• International interest led by the UK and China
• Indigenous food experiences lead demand
Latest data from Tourism Australia shows a record 1.25 million overseas trips in the past year included an Indigenous experience, a 6.7 per cent jump in 12 months.
Indigenous food and cuisine was the most sought-after cultural tourism experience for international visitors, attracting interest from 49 per cent of travellers, with art and craft demonstrations (40 per cent), purchasing Indigenous art and crafts (39 per cent) and cultural hikes (37 per cent) also high in demand.
The research shows expanding commercial market opportunities for First Nations tourism businesses offering experiences grounded in culture and Country, as international demand for Indigenous tourism continues to climb.
Tourism Australia's latest figures showed Indigenous tourism was increasingly becoming a drawcard within Australia's international visitor economy, while giving Aboriginal businesses opportunities to create sustainable revenue streams from cultural knowledge, products and experiences.
Demand was highest from Australia's traditional international tourism markets and rapidly growing Asian markets.
Tourism Australia's figures suggest those experiences are increasingly aligning with what international travellers are actively seeking: opportunities to engage directly with Aboriginal people, culture, food, art and Country.
And with international participation in Indigenous tourism continuing to outpace pre-COVID 19 estimates, the growing appetite for cultural experiences was also creating a larger market for the First Nations businesses delivering them.
Marketing pushes sustained surge
The accumulative growth was also reflected in Tourism Australia's burgeoning Discover Aboriginal Experiences collective, an alliance that has expanded to now include 53 Indigenous tourism operators, up 32 per cent since 2018.
The alliance of tourism operators offers more than 200 Aboriginal cultural experiences across Australia, from food, guided walks and art experiences, to fishing, rock art, wildlife and multi-day journeys.
Discover Aboriginal Experiences is part of Tourism Australia's Signature Experiences of Australia program, a recent initiative that gave businesses a platform to reach international travellers, travel agents, media and distribution networks.
Countries most interested in Aboriginal tourism
The United Kingdom was the largest market for visitors participating in an Indigenous experience, accounting for more than 173,000 trips, followed by the United States with 162,000 and China with almost 141,000 trips.
Strong growth also came from France, which increased 34 per cent in the year, China (30 per cent), Singapore (21 per cent) and Indonesia, which recorded growth of around 12 per cent over the past decade.
The combination of rising visitor numbers and strong consumer interest in Indigenous food, art and guided cultural experiences was an opportunity for operators to extend their offerings beyond conventional tours.
Visitor spending has increasingly flowed to Aboriginal-owned food and hospitality businesses, art centres, guides, accommodation providers, transport operators and other businesses that offer cultural tourism experiences.
Food appears to offer a particularly strong opportunity, with almost one in two prospective international visitors interested in experiencing Indigenous cuisine.
That demand coincides with increasing interest in native ingredients and Aboriginal food businesses, creating opportunities for tourism operators to combine storytelling, Country, traditional knowledge and food within a single tourism product.
The latest July 2026 data on Indigenous tourism can be found online.
