Beyond the Attraction: What Makes Adelaide Worth Exploring
What are visitors really looking for when they choose Adelaide?
The answer is more than a list of attractions.
In fact, 85 percent of visitors said Adelaide was much better than they expected. While attractions can provide a reason to visit, the value of a destination is also shaped by its experiences, atmosphere and sense of place. This positive response gives us a useful way to think about what influences the visitor experience once people arrive.
Our visitor surveys show that Adelaide is strongly leisure-led, with 79 percent of visitors travelling for leisure. But the reasons people choose Adelaide go beyond simply having somewhere to go. Around 26 percent of visitors cited events and conferences as a reason for choosing Adelaide, while around 24 percent cited exploration or curiosity. Family and social connections, as well as specific attractions and landmarks, drew others.
Visitors may arrive for a particular reason, but their experience of a city is shaped by much more than that initial purpose. They are also looking for local character, quality experiences and opportunities to do something different.
Understanding these motivations helps us look beyond simply how many people visit Adelaide, to how they experience the city and what can encourage them to explore more of it.
Adelaide has an opportunity to be known for what it does well.
Every city has attractions. What makes a destination distinctive is the combination of experiences and characteristics visitors encounter while there.
For Adelaide, this includes food and wine, culture, events, markets, hospitality, creativity and public spaces, alongside the character of its neighbourhoods and surrounding regions.
Katina Vangopoulos, Owner and Guide at Flamboyance Tours, sees this local character as an important part of helping visitors understand Adelaide:
"Adelaide is so much more than the landmarks visitors come to see. Because our guides are all born and raised here, we can share the stories, food and little details that give the city its character. It's those local experiences that help visitors understand what makes Adelaide feel different."
Visitor behaviour also suggests that Adelaide can be a base for broader exploration. While the CBD and North Adelaide remain core destinations, visitors are also looking to explore beyond the city centre, including middle metropolitan Adelaide and the wider Greater Adelaide region.
The visitor experience is shaped by how easy the city is to navigate, what visitors discover along the way and how those experiences connect as they move through the city and beyond.
Visitor feedback reinforces the role these less tangible qualities can play.
Adelaide is consistently described as clean, welcoming, relaxed and easy to navigate. Around 27 percent of visitors described their first impression of Adelaide as clean, organised or well-maintained. In comparison, 14 percent highlighted its friendly and welcoming character, 13 percent its ease of navigation and 12 percent its relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
These are not necessarily the traditional headline attractions of a destination, but they are qualities that shape how a city feels.
What do we want Adelaide to be known for?
For operators, the opportunity is to turn that positive visitor response into deeper engagement with the city. This could mean creating experiences that encourage visitors to explore beyond a single attraction, connecting with complementary businesses, or helping customers discover what they can do next.
AEDA can support this by sharing visitor insights and creating opportunities for industry to contribute to the development of Adelaide's visitor experience. By working with AEDA and sharing what you are seeing on the ground, businesses can help identify the experiences, connections and information that encourage visitors to explore further and stay longer.
The goal is not to change what makes Adelaide distinctive, but to make more of what already works easier for visitors to discover.
Ultimately, Adelaide is defined not only by what visitors come to see, but by what they experience along the way — and what makes them want to come back.
Source: AEDA Visitor Surveys