Often attributed to Mark Twain but more probably first coined by a lesser known Englishman Charles Wentworth Dilke, the expression "There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics".

That seems to sum up the conflicting media releases we are currently receiving from both government bodies and national news services who are reporting on those media releases. 

As you can see on two consecutive days we received two opposite but authoritive reports about the same subject.  Have a read through both the media releases set out below and let us know what your views are on the subject, 'cos we're confused!

Media release from Travel Today 16th June 2010

Domestic woes continue: survey The domestic tourism sector continues to struggle with the number of overnight trips taken by Australians down 2.7% for the year ending March 2010, according to the latest National Visitor Survey. The Tourism and Transport forum said the number of overnight domestic trips has fallen 23% on a per capita basis since 1999.

Visitor nights were down 1.3% and spending was down 0.2% compared to the previous corresponding period. “It means Australians are effectively taking one fewer domestic holiday each year, with the number of trips per person falling from 3.9 each year to 3.0,” said TTF Executive director Brett Gale.

Media release news report from Office of Martin Ferguson, Tourism Minister
Domestic tourism holds strong : Figures from the Australian Government’s National Visitor Survey released on June 15 show Australia’s domestic tourism market is holding strong for both the March quarter and the year ending March 2010 despite challenges from a competitive international market.

For the March quarter 2010 overnight trips and visitor nights remained constant. Visitor expenditure rose by 4% to $11.5 billion and day trip visitors increased by 8%. Victoria (up 4%), Tasmania (up 8%), Northern Territory (up 3%) and the ACT (up 32%) all experienced a strong March quarter in terms of visitor nights, while New South Wales (down 1%), South Australia (down 12%) and Western Australia (down 8%) experienced declines and Queensland visitor nights remained steady for the quarter.

For the twelve months to March 2010, visitor nights declined nationally by 1%, overnight trips were down 3%, and visitor expenditure remained steady at $42.9 billion while day trip visitors increased 9% to 147.5 million day trips.

Commenting on the figures, Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson said positive growth in the March 2010 quarter for visitor expenditure and day trip visitors, and a recovery in business travel.

“Domestic tourism is the industry’s bread and butter, it accounts for almost three quarters of Australia’s tourism consumption so it is encouraging to see continuing solid performance,” Ferguson said.