Has the lower AUD had an impact on inbound travel

Has the lower AUD had an impact on inbound travel? Looking at Sydney Airport's latest traffic you would say yes. Not withstanding the recent appreciation in the local currency international inbound traffic for January surged 8% year on year. Chinese nationals were the largest foreign growth driver this month, up 43% on the previous corresponding period (pcp). This was partially attributed to Chinese NY falling in January, however, the overall rise of inbound traffic was over 10% compared to a year earlier. The domestic figures painted an equally rosy picture with close to 3% growth on the previous year. Whilst January is a busy month for domestic travel the overall year on year trend is positive. SYD posts monthly traffic reports so these numbers should be viewed in the context of future releases to see if there is a consistent trend emerging.