The growth is tipped to continue soaring for the next decade, with India and Indonesia also emerging as strong markets.

Visitors from Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea and Malaysia are increasingly part of the Asian influx.

The Chinese sector is forecast to grow by at least 8 per cent a year in Victoria for the next 10 years.

It’s a challenge the new Great Ocean Road Tourism organisation has grasped enthusiastically in its efforts to spread holiday timespans from a rushed one-day visit to overnight stays in the hinterland.

“We have one of the iconic destinations that international visitors to Australia want to see and our region must be prepared to handle the influx,” Great Ocean Road Tourism general manager Liz Price said yesterday.

Tourists from China accounted for 25.8 per cent of international visitor expenditure to Victoria, spending an estimated $1.3 billion last financial year, according to Tourism Victoria figures.

Although no specific nationality split was reported for the Great Ocean Road the nominal expenditure by all international overnight visitors along the iconic coastal route was $114 million — that’s 28.7 per cent higher than the previous year and equates to $624 per visitor.

There were an estimated 352,400 Chinese overnight visitors to Victoria last financial year, a 16.4 per cent increase.

Compare that with 287,200 from New Zealand (up 4.9 per cent), 216,900 from the UK (up 7.8 per cent) and 151,000 from the US (up 11.8 per cent).

However, domestic tourism remains the strongest sector with the Great Ocean Road recording a 22.7 per cent increase to 2.9 million estimated overnight visitors, who spent about $1.2 billion at $420 per person.

Total expenditure in the ocean road region by domestic overnight and day-trip visitors injected an estimated $1.67bn into the region — up 16.8 per cent.

The Grampians recorded a smaller 4.1 per cent boost to 793,000 in domestic overnight visitors, but enjoyed a remarkable 73.5 per cent rise in domestic day-trippers to an estimated 1.1 million.

Great Ocean Road popularity among day-trippers rose by only 6.8 per cent, but still dominated the regional destinations with an estimated total of 5.5 million visitors.

Ms Price said federal government forecasts indicated the rapid increase of new middle-class travellers from China, India and other nations would continue to soar.

“We have been urged to see ourselves as a premium tourism destination — if Australia isn’t promoting itself other countries will benefit,” she said.

“Our tourism operators are noticing a difference in the Asian market with more self-drive travellers.

“A big trend is in travellers wanting to immerse themselves with the locals, to experience the lifestyle.

“Everyone in the community can contribute by being welcoming and showing what our region has to offer.

“Tourism is a major employer and could hold a solution to our high youth unemployment.”

Ms Price said the Great Ocean Walk and Tower Hill were among the attractions where visitors enjoyed Australian culture and nature.