Australian tourist departures fall

CANBERRA: The number of Australians traveling to other countries fell for the first time in five months after the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

About 383,600 Australians traveled overseas in January, compared with 406,300 the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Departures rose 16.3 percent from a year earlier.

"The earthquake and tsunami have impacted on overseas arrivals from, and resident departures to, affected countries, but quantifying the size of this impact" is not yet possible, the bureau said in a report on its website.

The number of overseas visitors to Australia rose 4.8 percent to 477,100 in January from the previous month. -- Bloomberg