US arrivals in Australia hit record

A record number of visitors have come from the United States to Australia as the local currency weakens and the American economy improves.

More journeys were made to Australia from the US in 2013 than during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when 488,000 visitor arrivals were recorded.

Inbound travel from the US topped 508,700 last year, marking an almost six per cent jump compared with 2012, official figures show.

Tourism Australia spokesman Leo Seaton says Australia is experiencing a resurgence in American travellers as the US economy improves.

"We always knew that the appetite amongst Americans to travel would return as the US economy improved and the Aussie dollar came off its highs," he said.

Mr Seaton says international marketing campaigns also helped.

American travellers pumped about $2.5 billion into the Australian economy last year, Tourism Australia says.

Overall 6.5 million visitor arrivals were recorded in 2013, an increase of 5.5 per cent on the previous year.

The Australian dollar dipped below parity with the US currency in May 2013, and is now worth about 90 US cents.