"Chinese New Year has been brilliant – we are so pleased," Sydney Opera House director of visitor experiences Jade McKellar said, citing 25,000 Mandarin language tour bookings for February. "We have had over 35 per cent growth in Chinese visitation each year for the last two years."

The growth in Sydney Opera House tours – now undertaken by one of every five Chinese visitors to Sydney – is outpacing the overall growth in the Chinese market.

The latest Australia Bureau of Statistics data for the 2015 calendar year released on Friday showed a 22 per cent rise in visitors from China to a record 1.023 million.

The growth rate from that market was far higher than the also strong overall 8.2 per cent rise in inbound visitors to 7.428 million. But arrivals from the key markets of the United States, India and Korea grew at double-digit rates.

Opera House leading the way

Sydney Opera House has catered heavily to Chinese visitors this month, with themed food and beverage items like lobster buns and fortune cookies, opulent floral decorations and roving performers.

"We are starting to see more of an increase [in performance attendances by Chinese visitors] as well," Ms McKellar said.

Anthony Hayes, the managing director of tour operator AAT Kings, said Chinese New Year had always been a big week, but this year there was a trend toward an increase in visitors in the week before and after the main festivities as well.

"It has been great for our entire industry," he said, adding Chinese travellers were increasingly moving beyond traditional destinations like Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns to visit places like Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory. "Now they are really willing to try an Australian tour operator, not just a Chinese operator."

Mr Hayes said a combination of factors, including strong marketing campaigns from Tourism Australia, more competition among airlines and the lower Australian dollar, had now aligned to give the industry the most positive outlook in years.

"Everything has come together really nicely," he said. "So many of us are experiencing a positive year. It is wonderful seeing the Chinese market maturing so quickly and branching out and seeing parts of Australia they wouldn't 10 years ago. They are great spenders, and we love them."