Tourism figures surrounding international visitors for the 2009-10 financial year have been released, with Australia's overall figures showing signs of improvement.


But according to Government figures, the number of people coming from overseas to Tropical North Queensland has dropped sharply from the previous year.


2.63 million visitors came to the area in the last financial year, a decrease of 357,000 from the 2008-09 year.


Statistics published in the International Visitor Survey showed spending by visitors within Australia increased 3% to $17 billion.


However the overall spend which includes actually getting to the country fell by 2%. Australian Tourism Export Council managing director, Matt Hingerty, said this is possibly due to cut price deals being purchased by budget travellers.


The biggest markets include the UK and China who each provided nearly $3 billion each in economic value, with NZ and the US accounting for around $2 billion each.


Somewhat surprisingly, 62% of people who visited Australia had been here before, with the total number of nights spent in the country increasing 5%.


The main purpose for their visits were holidays (46%), visiting friends and relatives (25%) and business travellers (15%).