Tourism Programme Anthropologist Backpackers are Tourism's biggest spending visitors. Research has shown that on an individual basis, backpackers spend up to four times as much in Australia as do mainstream visitors, such Japanese tourists.
Backpackers hold special potential for regional Australia.
Already, backpackers make up more than half of all international visitors and visitor nights in some parts of regional Australia. Their tendency to roam farther afield than other types of tourists is reflected in the fact that backpackers visited an average 10.6 regions in Australia during 1995-96, compared with 2.7 regions for all visitors. While an increasing number of backpackers visit Australia each year, the benefits of this form of tourism have accrued disproportionate to the Eastern half of the continent. However, there appears to be considerable scope for improving the Western Australia's share of backpackers as this situation appears neither caused by the lack of physical attractions on offer in the region nor by the lack of an existing infrastructure. Instead, the reasons for the relatively low number of backpackers departing from the main existing Eastern States traveller circuit can be traced to the internal dynamics of the subculture itself.