Australia's finest tennis players and cricketers may be enjoying an English summer, but a weaker Australian dollar aided a relative flood of British tourists to Canberra last year.
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The city enjoyed a near 20 per cent growth in British visitors in 2014, second only to increased Chinese travellers, as new figures showed rapid growth in British arrivals to their old colony continues.
The number of British residents arriving downunder for a short-term stay rose by 5.6 per cent in April, in contrast to a modest 1.1 per cent rise in trend terms of Aussies making the opposite journey, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last week showed.
With the pound now at six-year highs - worth 2.07 Australian dollars on Friday - the figures showed three per cent growth in British tourists for the year to April, in contrast to short-term Australian departures to Britain rising by 0.6 per cent.
VisitCanberra director Ian Hill said the exchange rate and lower fuel prices were the most significant economic factors which would encourage Brits to make the long-haul flight.
"The economic conditions in market are highly relevant too, you're seeing some positive signs in the UK economy so their disposition to travel is increased," he said.
"Australia is always a highly aspirational place for UK travellers, and there's a very strong visiting friends and relatives market."
Canberra's food and wine, a number of new or upgraded hotels and relative proximity to Sydney and beaches were selling points, he said.
There were 20,352 British visitors to Canberra last year, up 19.6 per cent from the strong centenary year, Tourism Research Australia figures showed. Nearly 29,000 Chinese visitors also came, up 35 per cent, but the Americans and Kiwis dropped off, down 23 and 14 per cent respectively.
Australia-Britain Society ACT vice-president Greg Cornwell said his daughter, Jane, lived in Britain and had planned to return in February.
"She may even come out here a little earlier because of the dollar," he said.
The pound has been at A$1.80 or above for most of the last 18 months, and has risen by seven per cent since April.
Stockbroker Marcus Padley said the Australian currency was the cause of the decline against both the pound and the US dollar, due to severe falls in iron ore, coal and oil prices in the last year, and this fall in commodity prices and the Australian dollar seemed set to continue.
