And the boom is expected to continue for the foreseeable future with analysts claiming expectations of the recovery were far too conservative and that people would prioritise spending on travel.

On a yearly basis the overnight spending in Queensland in 2022 was 40 per cent above 2019, even though actual visits were down slightly.

Queensland was the obvious stand-out in the data but it was a particularly good Christmas for the nation with significantly higher spending from fewer holiday makers.

Almost $8 billion was spent during the month, an increase of 28 per cent on 2019, a timeframe which excludes the Covid lockdown years.

“Travellers were spending more money, on average, and taking longer trips. The average spend per trip was up $244 to $878,” TRA said.

Investment has also started to move into the sector in 2022 with an additional $1.5 billion in the pipeline that now totals $44 billion.

Intrastate travel was also strong for Queensland with an increase of 52 per cent on December 2019.

The data coincided with a report from stockbroker Wilsons Advisory titled “Lockdown to Liftoff” which said that although consumers were tightening their purse strings tourism and leisure business were still booming.

“We have been positive on the re-opening thematic for some time on the view that the market has underestimated the significant amount of pent-up demand for travel, which has helped keep air passenger volumes elevated, even in the face of higher prices and the broader consumer slowdown,” Wilson’s equity strategist Rob Crookston wrote in a report released this week.

“We think this trend still has further to run in the second half of 2023 and full year 2024 with consumers continuing to prioritise their expenditure on travel over other items while international travel remains well below pre-pandemic levels.

“China’s recent re-opening from lockdown provides another tailwind for the sector.”

He said his firm thought the current market forecasts for the travel recovery were far too conservative. Included in that was the belief that international travel would not reach pre-Covid levels until 2025.

“Considering that Covid restrictions are a thing of the past for most countries (especially Australia) and the level of pent-up demand for travel, we think travel will recover quicker than forecast.

“We believe that passenger numbers could go above 2019 levels as households rotate their spending away from goods and services and towards travel and other services.”

However, he said higher pricing in the sector was likely to continue.